The Enigmas

To save her sister, she’ll rewrite history…

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'A spectacular writer. Her unwavering command of voice, time, and place bring history to life with imagination and purpose, but it is her skill in illuminating the selfless bonds between women that gets me every time' Bonnie Garmus

'A luminous novel: richly imagined and full of characters you’ll root for until the end' Chloe Benjamin, author of THE IMMORTALISTS

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What would we risk to save the people we love?

Sandbags line London’s streets in 1940, but for Beatrice Bone the Second World War feels distant and dull. It doesn’t help that she’s stuck at home while her younger sister Clemmie is away doing secret war work at a mysterious place called The Park.

Everything changes when Clemmie is killed in a fire. Plunged into grief, Beatrice treasures her sister’s last gift: an antique pocket watch, inscribed with the words memento mori. Remember death.

Beatrice quickly realises the watch is more than a memento when it transports her back in time, giving her the chance to save Clemmie. But there are consequences to changing the past, and soon Beatrice is faced with a terrible choice: her sister’s life, or her country’s future?

In her most ambitious and emotionally resonant novel yet, Emilia Hart once again conjures the power of female resilience and the ability of love to transcend time.

Reviews

Praise for THE ENIGMAS:

'Hart is a spectacular writer. Her unwavering command of voice, time, and place bring history to life with imagination and purpose, but it is her skill in illuminating the selfless bonds between women that gets me every time. She's the real deal' Bonnie Garmus

'Emilia Hart's sensory prose is transporting, and she braids personal and historical threads so skillfully it feels effortless. The result is a luminous novel: richly imagined and full of characters you’ll root for until the end’ Chloe Benjamin, author of THE IMMORTALISTS

'Brilliantly imaginative and original… completely compelling and so moving at the same time. A gorgeous exploration of family dynamics, of how complicated and loving the relationships can be … It's a story of what it is to be truly heroic in the face of war and the threat of losing what is dearest to you. Emilia Hart is a must-read author for me, and The Enigmas is another triumph' Jennifer Saint

'No one writes about women and the magical, mysterious bonds between them the way Emilia Hart does. Whether she’s writing about wartime action or personal battles, her addictive, absorbing prose makes every moment feel epic and emotionally devastating. Like all her novels, The Enigmas feels both thrillingly fresh and like a timeless classic, and I can’t wait to see where she takes readers next' Layne Fargo, bestselling author of The Favourites

'History meets magic in THE ENIGMAS, a mesmerizing story… Emilia Hart masterfully blends war-time code-breaking with time travel in this fascinating new tale of sisters, mothers, daughters, and magic—I couldn't put it down!' Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author