The Book of Guilt

After a very different outcome to WWII than the one history recorded, 1979 England is a country ruled by a government whose aims have sinister underpinnings and alliances. In the Hampshire countryside, 13-year-old triplets Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents at the Captain Scott Home for Boys, where every day they must take medicine to protect themselves from a mysterious illness to which many of their friends have succumbed. The lucky ones who recover are allowed to move to Margate, a seaside resort of mythical proportions.

In nearby Exeter, 13-year-old Nancy lives a secluded life with her parents, who dote on her but never let her leave the house. As the triplets’ lives begin to intersect with Nancy’s, bringing to light a horrifying truth about their origins and their likely fate, the children must unite to escape – and survive.

• PRAISE FOR THE AXEMAN'S CARNIVAL

  "Gorgeously haunting."

  Library Journal, starred review

• PRAISE FOR PET

  • BEST OF THE YEAR: WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORKER, SLATE, CRIMEREADS, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, AMAZON BOOK REVIEW
  • NYT EDITORS' CHOICE

  "Sharp-edged, deliciously dark."

  Slate

• PRAISE FOR REMOTE SYMPATHY

  • LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
  • SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

  "Chidgey is a writer of formidable resources, a deft stylist posessed of uncanny imaginative acuity."

  The Guardian

• "Highly original and deeply researched, Catherine Chidgey's REMOTE SYMPATHY is a powerful and disturbing study in terrible lies and the human need to believe them . . . Few readers will close the covers of this book unshaken."

  Annie Proulx, author of Barkskins

• "A vital turn in Holocaust literature."

  Publisher's Weekly, starred review