FROM THE WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE Birnam Wood is on the move... A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass in New Zealand's South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike, leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, a guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. But they hadn't figured on the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine, who also has an interest in the place. Can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other? A propulsive literary thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character. It is a brilliantly constructed tale of intentions, actions and consequences, and an unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.
Eleanor Catton Book order (chronological)
Eleanor Catton crafts narratives that delve into intricate plots and the detailed psychology of her characters. Her distinctive style is characterized by rich language and meticulously structured storytelling. She explores the complexities of human nature and morality through compelling and often ambiguous plotlines. Her works invite readers to contemplate the worlds she creates and the very nature of narrative itself.
It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.
Granta - 106: New Fiction Special
- 256 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Granta 106 will be a special issue devoted entirely to fiction. Look out for the best short stories of the year, new graphic fiction, extracts from the most exciting autumn books, and exclusive, in-depth interviews with some of the biggest names in fiction.Featuring a mix of established and new voices, Granta’s first summer fiction special offers a complete view of the best international writing, and is a must-have for everyone who loves reading and holidays.
The Rehearsal
- 319 pages
- 12 hours of reading
A high-school sex scandal jolts a group of teenage girls into a new awareness of their own potency. The sudden publicity seems to turn every act into a performance and every space into a stage. But when the local drama college decides to turn the scandal into a show, the real world and the world of the theatre are forced to meet, and soon the boundaries between private and public begin to dissolve... The Rehearsal is an exhilarating and provocative novel about the complications of human desire. Startlingly original, it is at once a tender portrait of its young protagonists and a shrewd exposé of emotional compromise. It marks the arrival of a boldly inventive and extraordinarily accomplished new voice in contemporary fiction.