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Reading lists

Powerful stories that make great gifts

A photograph of Rose Tremain sitting on a white sofa, wearing a white blazer

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Interviews

How a brush with death helped inspire Rose Tremain’s new novel

Sacred Country: a novel ahead of its time

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Features

The Housekeeper

‘Daphne du Maurier stole my life’Bestselling author Rose Tremain invents the story of how a great novel of the past came into being and in turn creates a masterwork of her own . . .‘An absolute masterclass’ CLAIRE LYNCHMrs Danowski – known as Danni – is the housekeeper of a grand mansion on the wild coast of Cornwall. When glamorous young writer Daphne du Maurier visits Manderville Hall to research her new novel, she and Danni are drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair.For Danni, it is an all-consuming love; for Daphne a submission to long-suppressed desires. But their fragile secret is vulnerable to prying eyes and destined for heartbreak. When Daphne’s novel launches to triumphant success, Danni is distraught to find herself transformed into a malign and jealous character on the page. She seeks respite from the hurt by telling her own story: The Housekeeper.‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege’ ERIN KELLY‘Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating’ STACEY HALLS 
 
'Tremain... conjures a world so sensory and atmospheric it completely ensnares the reader - The Times 
 
'A master storyteller' - Financial Times

'Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating. Rose Tremain is masterful in her depiction of a summer romance, and how a shared experience can be so utterly different for the people involved'

'An absolute masterclass in character and style. The Housekeeper is a novel of patient observation and irresistible passion all at once. Just as this novel grows from between the lines of another, so we see the great layering of Tremain’s writing. It is, in some ways, a book of half-lived lives. It is also a book of what can be imagined, the possibilities of desires followed, ambitions pursued'

‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege. The Housekeeper shines a devastating light on one of the most iconic characters in twentieth-century fiction and the nature of authorship itself. A must-read for all du Maurier fans’

'It takes a brave author to reimagine Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Luckily, Rose Tremain is more than up to the task… thrilling'

This brilliant construction is a Rubik’s Cube that yields multiple meanings while Tremain, a master storyteller, keeps the reader compelled

[The Housekeeper is] arguably as compelling as the original

Rich in gothic atmosphere, betrayal and longing, this is an absorbing, beautifully written reimagining that will especially resonate with readers and fans of Rebecca

What makes Tremain such a master of narrative is the palpable joy she takes in the act of creation. There’s an almost childlike relish to her world-building and a glorious freedom to her imagination. Approaching her fiction in a spirit of pure play, she conjures a world so sensory and atmospheric it completely ensnares the reader

Tremain…shares her [Hilary Mantel’s] ability to evoke time and place with specific and tactile details… For those previously unfamiliar with du Maurier’s biography…The Housekeeper will certainly change hour they read Rebecca

A brooding yet scintillating study of literary ambition

A fine exploration of the constraints that keep two women apart

Rose Tremain's novels and short stories have been published in thirty countries and have won many awards, including the Orange Prize (The Road Home), the Dylan Thomas Award (The Colonel's Daughter and Other Stories), the Whitbread Novel of the Year (Music & Silence) the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and France’s Prix Femina (Sacred Country), and the South Bank Sky Arts Award (The Gustav Sonata). Her most recent novel is Absolutely and Forever (2023), which was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. The Housekeeper is currently in production as a major film, directed by Richard Eyre, with script by Tremain, and starring Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. Rose Tremain was made a CBE in 2007 and a Dame in 2020. She lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer, Richard Holmes.

‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege’ ERIN KELLY 
 
‘Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating’ STACEY HALLS 
 
‘An absolute masterclass’ CLAIRE LYNCH 
 
'She lifted me high, high up into another world, and then let me fall . . . Daphne du Maurier stole my life.' 
 
A dramatic story of forbidden love, from enduring bestseller Rose Tremain 
 
Mrs Danowski – known as Danni – is the housekeeper of a grand mansion on the wild coast of Cornwall. When glamorous young writer Daphne du Maurier visits Manderville Hall to research her new novel, she and Danni are drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. 
 
For Danni, it is an all-consuming love; for Daphne a submission to long-suppressed desires. But their fragile secret is vulnerable to prying eyes and destined for heartbreak. When Daphne’s novel launches to triumphant success, Danni is distraught to find herself transformed into a malign and jealous character on the page. She seeks respite from the hurt by telling her own story: The Housekeeper. 
 
What unforeseen encounters, what forbidden feelings can inspire a writer? With flair and panache, Rose Tremain has invented the story of how a great novel of the past came into being and in turn creates a masterwork of her own.

Absolutely and Forever

‘Gorgeous’ Observer * ‘Profoundly moving’ Financial Times * 'Electrifying' Daily Mail 
 
How do you find the courage to make your own life? An unputdownable novel about first love set in 1960s London from Sunday Times bestselling Rose Tremain 
 
Marianne is fifteen when she falls helplessly and absolutely in love with Simon. Simon owns a Morris Minor, is in his final year at school and has a dazzling future ahead of him. Desperate to escape the stifling 1950s suburbs she has been raised in, Marianne feels sure she will be able to find true happiness with him. 
 
However a twist of fate sees Simon’s glittering future dashed, and with it, Marianne’s dreams. He flees the country and Marianne, realising she will now have to make a life of her own, moves to London determined to reinvent herself. But Marianne cannot let go of that first all-encompassing love and all the while Simon is in Paris, nursing a secret that will alter everything. 
 
‘A perfect Tremain novel… English, dark and yearning… Remarkable… Tremain shows us the things that make every human life extraordinary’ The Times 
 
‘A complex tale of becoming that’s moving, evocative and mesmerising in its acuity’ Mail on Sunday 
 
 
*A Sunday Times Book of the Year* 
* Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction * 
 
READERS LOVE ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER: 
 
'Heartrending, funny, unputdownable' 5***** 
 
'An undoubted modern classic' 5***** 
 
'Marianne will remain with me as a friend' 5***** 
 
'A masterclass in character and world building ... the writing is just sublime' 5*****

PRAISE FOR ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER: 
'Stunningly beautiful and deeply moving'

A perfect Tremain novel… English, dark and yearning… remarkable… [Tremain shows] us the things that make every human life extraordinary

Funny, piercing and singular… this gorgeous, pitch-perfect novel is a world unto itself… it’s powerful, too… I can’t fathom the reason why you wouldn’t rush straight out to buy it

A slim, funny, elegantly breezy coming-of-age story

A complex tale of becoming that’s moving, evocative and mesmerising in its acuity

An electrifying, word-perfect tale… Gently devastating, devastatingly beautiful

An engrossing character study ... But it is also a study in tolerance and kindness, and as such is more relevant to today’s reader than it might first seem

Written with piercing clarity and gentle humour, Absolutely And Forever is a study of the messiness of human relationships, the significance of secrets unspoken and the impact of the choices we make

This is a book about the comic, painful, life-long search for human understanding. Not a word is wasted; not a phrase trite. It is mesmerising, masterly and profoundly moving

Rose Tremain… is back on form with Absolutely and Forever

[A] delicate, generous-hearted novel

From page 4 of Absolutely and Forever we are swept back to the 1960s ... Skill and insouciance

There are only a handful of writers whose novels I read on publication day. Rose Tremain is one of them

An electrifying, word-perfect tale ... [A] gently devastating, devastatingly beautiful novel

PRAISE FOR ROSE TREMAIN: 
 
One of my favourite writers

Tremain is one of the best novelists writing today

Pulsatingly alive. . . no one can break your heart quite like this

Rose Tremain's fiction is my gold-standard

This is not the kind of book you would expect from an 80-year-old dame, but Rose Tremain has always surprised and delighted her readers…a slim, funny, elegantly breezy coming-of-age story… [and] Tremain’s most personal novel yet

A brilliant evocation of growing up in the 1960s, which will ring true for those of us who lived through the period… Highly recommended

[A] delightful book… Tremain’s novel is just as much about friendship as the ruinous effects of romance. There’s far more to this story than meets the eye

‘Gorgeous’ Observer * ‘Profoundly moving’ Financial Times * ‘Electrifying’ Daily Mail 
 
How do you find the courage to make your own life? An electrifying novel about first love set in 1960s London from the bestselling Rose Tremain 
 
Marianne is fifteen when she falls helplessly and absolutely in love with Simon. Simon owns a Morris Minor, is in his final year at school and has a dazzling future ahead of him. Desperate to escape the stifling 1950s suburbs she has been raised in, Marianne feels sure she will be able to find true happiness with him. 
 
However a twist of fate sees Simon’s glittering future dashed and with it Marianne’s dreams. He flees the country and Marianne, realising she will now have to make a life of her own, moves to London determined to reinvent herself. But Marianne cannot let go of that first all-encompassing love and all the while Simon is in Paris, nursing a secret that will alter everything. 
 
‘A perfect Tremain novel… English, dark and yearning… Remarkable… Tremain shows us the things that make every human life extraordinary’ The Times 
 
‘A complex tale of becoming that’s moving, evocative and mesmerising in its acuity’ Mail on Sunday 
 
A Sunday Times Book of the Year * Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction * 
 
READERS LOVE ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER: 
 
'Heartrending, funny, unputdownable' 5***** 
 
'An undoubted modern classic' 5***** 
 
'Marianne will remain with me as a friend' 5***** 
 
'A masterclass in character and world building ... the writing is just sublime' 5*****

A Tale of Revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Lily

Lily Mortimer is left in a London park in 1850, a nameless child carrying a secret she does not yet understand. 
 
Raised in the Foundling Hospital, Lily grows up under strict discipline and constant uncertainty, learning early that survival depends on resilience rather than kindness. After years of suffering brutal hardship, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London and the truth about her past begins to surface. 
 
What begins as a search for belonging becomes something darker when Lily is reunited with policeman who first left her at the Foundling Hospital. Determined to confront those who have wronged her, Lily risks everything to claim control of her own life. 
 
‘Enthralling… Tremain evokes Victorian London with visceral intensity in a gripping and deeply humane novel exploring themes of rejection, poverty, guilt and redemption’ Observer 
 
'A heartbreaking story set in Victorian England from the pitch-perfect pen of Rose Tremain' The Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Lily, in addition to its pellucid prose, is shamelessly gripping

Tremain's latest novel more than lives up to its atmospheric, riveting beginning... It's consummate storytelling, and finds room for redemption as well as revenge

Another memorable and engrossing read from Tremain, which brings Victorian London, and especially courageous Lily, to life on the page

A heartbreaking story set in Victorian England from the pitch-perfect pen of Rose Tremain

Tremain's gift is to create characters whose experiences span every walk of life, but who are grounded in their author's understanding of the world

Enthralling... Tremain evokes Victorian London with visceral intensity in a gripping and deeply humane novel exploring themes of rejection, poverty, guilt and redemption

It's more than gratifying to open [Tremain's] new novel, Lily, and immediately see that she is still writing at full throttle... This is the literary equivalent of all your favourite Christmas telly programmes rolled into one... Lily's story is a winter's tale: a cosy pageturner that will whisk you away from the 21st century while engaging and sharpening your mind.

No writer can inhabit the skin of a historical period and bring it so pulsatingly alive as Rose Tremain. No one can break your heart quite like this. In this compassionate, generous, soaringly beautiful book, Tremain is at the top of her game. Read and be transported

Lily is an ingenious blend of historical novel, moral fable and fairy story. Tremain, a pre-eminent historical novelist, vividly evokes the disparate social worlds of Victorian London... Lily is a tale not just of revenge but of redemption, which carries an intense emotional charge. Tremain again displays her supreme ability to create characters who are at once totally true to the period and instantly identifiable to the modern reader

Lily is the perfect heroine, courageous and bold

Full of evocative detail and memorable characters

Lily is a wonderful creation - diffident and trying to find her place in the world... But it's Tremain's attention to detail that really sets this novel apart

An authentically melodramatic whydunnit set in Victorian London

Tremain has created a feisty, rebellious heroine in the style of Jane Eyre and Maggie Tulliver, in a setting that owes much to Dickens... a very engaging read

A heart-wrenching tale that blends historical detail, moral fable and fairy story with a powerful heroine at its helm

Fans of Dickens's heart-tugging Little Dorrit should enjoy this powerful exploration of the human urge to seek places of sanctuary in a pitiless, fickle world. Perfect fireside reading - but better keep a hankie ready

Tremain brilliantly conjures up the atmosphere of Victorian London while the story is cleverly structured to keep the reader guessing to the end

From Sunday Times bestselling novelist Rose Tremain comes a gripping novel of murder and revenge set in Victorian England 
 
Nobody knows yet that she is a murderer... 
 
London, 1850. On a freezing winter's night, a baby is abandoned at the gates of a park only to be saved by a young policeman and taken to the Foundling Hospital. 
 
After suffering years of brutal hardship at the Hospital, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London. But she is hiding a dreadful secret... 
 
When Lily and the policeman meet again, Lily is convinced that he holds the key to her happiness. But might he also be the one to uncover her crime and so condemn her to death? 
 
'Enthralling... Tremain evokes Victorian London with visceral intensity in a gripping and deeply humane novel exploring themes of rejection, poverty, guilt and redemption' Observer

Islands of Mercy

From the bestselling author of The Gustav Sonata

An audacious novel about destiny and desire from the incomparable Rose Tremain

In 1865, in the polite drawing rooms of Victorian Bath, Jane Adeane discovers that the heart is rarely obedient. 
 
Islands of Mercy follows Jane Adeane, a gifted nurse and the daughter of a respected surgeon, as she confronts the limits placed on her by r male expectations. When she turns down a proposal of marriage and forms a passionate bond with another woman, Jane is torn between security and secrecy. 
 
Across the globe, in the jungles of nineteenth-century Borneo, the man Jane rejected pursues his own fraught journey, driven by rivalry, pride and longing. Meanwhile Clorinda Morrissey, newly arrived in Bath, attempts to fashion a life of independence from the fragments of her past. 
 
A novel set between nineteenth-century England and the colonial world, Islands of Mercy asks what it costs to follow your heart, and whether you can live with the consequences 
 
'A hell of a read' Sunday Times 
 
'Triumphant and beautifully told...one of the best novelists writing today' Sara Collins, Guardian 
 
'Terrific' The Times 
 
'One of our most accomplished novelists' Observer 
 
'One of my favourite writers' Nina Stibbe

A hell of a read - so emotionally sophisticated, so deft with shade and light, more absorbing than most fiction I've read this year

Another gratifyingly well-put-together work... Tremain's long sentences brim with a poised positivity...[and] add lightness to her fond depictions of these imperfect strivers

Subtle, illuminating and captivating

A moving exploration of love and the sacrifices we're willing to make in its name

Over a distinguished literary career, Rose Tremain has traversed genres with her customary flair... in her portrayal of the ways in which individual longing and frustration unfold against the constraints of forces beyond our control, Tremain has long been one of our most accomplished novelists, and here is further confirmation

An exhilarating exploration of love, life, loss and death... A thrilling and seductive story... Vivid and beguiling

Rose Tremain gives Hilary Mantel a run for her money for the title of Britain's greatest living historical novelist... there are still few writers who can conjure up a version of the past that is so startlingly unfamiliar yet so convincing

A new book from Rose Tremain is always a cause for celebration. Her exceptionally well-crafted and deeply humane historical novels are invariably a joy and Islands of Mercy is no exception... A rich, rewarding and highly satisfying novel from one of our finest novelists.

Vivid, transgressive, explicit and kaleidoscopic

'A hell of a read' Sunday Times 
 
'Triumphant, and beautifully told...one of the best novelists writing today' Sara Collins, Guardian 
 
All must gamble with their fate. But not all can win... 
 
In the city of Bath, in the year 1865 Jane Adeane, renowned for her restorative skills, is convinced that some other destiny will one day show itself to her. 
 
But when she finds herself torn between a dangerous affair with a female lover and the promise of a conventional marriage to an apparently respectable doctor, her desires begin to lead her towards a future she had never imagined... 
 
Discover the ultimate historical read. 
 
'Terrific' The Times 
 
'One of our most accomplished novelists' Observer 
 
'One of my favourite writers' Nina Stibbe

Restoration

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, Restoration is the bestselling classic which introduced us to the young Robert Merivel and his rise and fall through glittering seventeenth-century society

In 1660s Restoration England, Robert Merivel, an ambitious medical student, enters the glittering and dangerous world of the royal court. 
 
Set during the splendid yet fragile reign of King Charles II, this masterly historical novel immerses readers in all the spectacle and instability of London during the seventeenth century. 
 
Robert Merivel rises in favour as ‘paper groom’ to one of the King’s mistresses, gaining entry to a court shaped by patronage, power and shifting loyalties. But when Robert’s personal longing clashes with royal authority, his quick wit and charm cannot keep him from court intrigue social downfall and extreme consequences... 
 
'For a vivid – and funny – fictional re-creation of the era, Tremain’s Restoration is hard to beat.' The Times

For a vivid – and funny – fictional re-creation of the era, Tremain’s Restoration is hard to beat.

To be moved and impressed by a novel and yet so entertained, is rare

A dazzling triumph… It is nothing less than superb

Witty, exciting and evocative. Restoration is a wonderful book

Headstrong, ambitious and lustful...Tremain reinvents the historical novel with flamboyant wit and vivid energy

The bestselling classic from a 'magnificent story-teller' (Independent on Sunday). Journey to the glittering seventeenth-century court, and witness the rise and fall of young, charming Robert Merivel... 
 
When a twist of fate delivers an ambitious young medical student to the court of King Charles II, he is suddenly thrust into a vibrant world of luxury and opulence. Blessed with a quick wit and sparkling charm, Robert Merivel rises quickly, soon finding favour with the King, and privileged with a position as ‘paper groom’ to the youngest of the King’s mistresses. But by falling in love with her, Merivel transgresses the one rule that will cast him out from his new-found paradise… 
 
'For a vivid – and funny – fictional re-creation of the era, Tremain’s Restoration is hard to beat.' The Times 
 
Rose Tremain has sold over one million copies of her books.

A Man of His Time

Merivel

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, Merivel is a dazzling novel about loyalty and dreams set in Restoration England

One of the great imaginative creations in English literature

A tour de force of literary technique, a treasure house of diligent research and imaginative ingenuity

Her feeling for the spirit of the times is triumphant

Her characters laugh, cry, plot and flounder so convincingly that they take up residence in your head and refuse to go away

This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters, leavened with flourishes of lyricism and an attractive tolerance towards human frailties

What ultimately makes the book such a joy is simply being in Merivel’s company. His narration is by turns rueful, comic, despairing and joyful; but it’s always bursting with life, always good-hearted - and always entirely loveable

At times witty and enchanting, on other occasions full of doubt and self-loathing, Merivel remains a stunning achievement. He is Everyman and speaks to us all

Exuberance is a very hard thing to sustain in a novel… However, Tremain brings it off brilliantly. As one might expect, this is a very funny novel, full of picaresque adventure, hapless accidents and ingeniously wrought slapstick. However, it is also a very moving and beautiful novel. There are passages here which I found myself reading over and over again simply in order to savour them. Merivel: A Man of His Time may have been a long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait

Merivel is excellent company. Writing with a mimic’s ear for conversation, whimsical one moment, grave the next, Tremain has an underlying preoccupation here: the last third of live, love and loss, loneliness and vanity

Tremain writes beautifully about Reniassance England but it’s the glittering paradoxes of Merivel’s character that here leap fully formed from the page

Tremain’s novel experiments continually with light and shade – she expertly paints a picture with three dimensions and real feeling

Merivel offers a rich and satisfying sequel to the bright beginning of Restoration

More interesting than all the period decoration is the character of Merivel, a character whom the author has such deep knowledge of. Tremain’s fusion of an engrossing character and the minutiae of another time is a marvel

Tremain's control of her character and her reflective but often dramatic unfolding of events are impressive acts of authorial ventriloquism, in which she gives a nod to the great diarists of that era but carries off her own man's story with wit, grace and originality. There is only to add that, despite the linear storytelling imposed on a journal, she not only effortlessly sustains momentum and mood, but brings the novel to as near a perfect ending as one could wish

Tremain is particularly good at exploring the nuances of life for the hapless Merivel so that reader empathises with his sense of loneliness and despair. As well as exploring the sensitive side of Merivel’s character we share his intimate thoughts which are often very funny. A beautiful book

A delightful portrait of an aging man at the mercy of his own foibles and frustrations

Sequels rarely live up to their predecessors but this one comes close

A glorious book of heart-warming philosophy and heart-rending sadness

An excellent novel...thrilling reading...incredibly entertaining

Surely one of the most versatile novelists writing today

Rose Tremain writes comedy that can break your heart

Steps inside the mind of Sir Robert Merivel

Continues in the same superior vein as Restoration… The fusion of such an engrossing character, and the minutiae of another time, remains a marvel

In  this evocative and beautifully drawn novel of family and loyalty in the face of an  uncertain future Tremain continues the story of a wonderfully unique  character

Merivel’s hapless charm remains intact in this tour de force of literary technique

A sequel that looks back to the earlier novel without ever quite recapturing its spirit is the perfect form in which to evoke that feeling of having to carry on, and of trying to make yourself have fun even with it eventually begins to hurt

A marvelllously rollicking good read, and it is such a pleasure to meet Robert Merivel again. Rose Tremain brings the character to life in a way that makes you want to find out even more about the period. Enormously skilled and deft

‘One of the great imaginative creations in English literature’ Daily Telegraph 
 
A dazzling novel of loyalty and dreams set in Restoration England. 
 
The gaudy years of the Restoration are long gone and Robert Merivel, physician and courtier to King Charles II, sets off for the French court in search of a fresh start. But royal life at the Palace of Versailles – all glitter in front and squalor behind – leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with the seductive Madame de Flamanville, allows him to dream of a different future. 
 
But will that future ever be his? Summoned home urgently to attend to the ailing King, Merivel finds his loyalty and skill tested to their limits. 
 
Rose Tremain has sold over one million copies of her books. 
 
PRAISE FOR MERIVEL 
‘This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters’ The Times 
'Magnificent story-teller' Independent on Sunday 
‘Wonderfully entertaining’ Michael Holroyd, Guardian Books of the Year

Evangelista's Fan

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, Evangelista's Fan 'goes on resonating in your memory after you have shut the book' Independent

A master class in the art of storytelling

Tremain is elegant, cool and teasing...she is an extremely accomplished writer, ingenious and acute, compassionate and always in control

A perfect demonstration of Rose Tremain's beguilingly original and quirky mind and her ability to set words on paper in the most spellbinding way

In this superb collection of short stories she displays a dazzling versatility... Rose Tremain's writing has a rare subtlety. And her imagination is extraordinary

‘A master class in the art of storytelling’ Observer 
 
This short story collection demonstrates the enormous range of Tremain’s talent and imagination. 
 
The teasing and brilliant title story, Evangelista's Fan, is set in a disturbing dreamlike version of Regency London, where a young italian clockmaker contrives a magical means, not only of repairing time, but also of unlocking the mechanism of sexual happiness. 
 
Here is history - Agincourt as seen by the herald who rides between the two camps - alongside such contemporary issues as mortgage debt and medical error. 
 
Here are stories set in Cornwall, Corsica, Nashville, Niagara and an unidentified city which conjures up any and every Western European capital. 
 
Here are the obstinate dreams of the old and the passionate struggles of the young; here is heartbreak and humour; and here, above all, is love in its many and varied forms.

The Way I Found Her

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look 'This novel has the sparkle of sunlight on water...once more Rose Tremain beguiles you into suspending disbelief' Independent on Sunday

A scary, funny and ultimately very affecting novel... Tremain lets us glimpse the adult-in-waiting; reminds us that life - tinged with joy, sex, pain - takes its whole shape from such moments

The Way I Found Her is a magical invention of page-turning suspense, of sadness, grief and passion, whose sure and delicate exposure of a sensibility flowering one hot Parisian summer teaches us the price of experience. Do not miss it

'A magical invention of page-turning suspense, of sadness, grief and passion' The Times 
 
Lewis Little, precocious thirteen-year-old, is spending summer in Paris with his mother, Alice. 
 
Alice is translating the latest medieval romance by Valentina Gavrilovich, the bestselling and exotic Russian émigré. Lewis is there to make his first acquaintance with one of the greatest cities in the world; neither can foresee the momentous events that lie in wait for them. 
 
Valentina slowly casts a spell over Lewis, but when her past begins to encroach on all their lives and, as this enchanted world is gradually lost, Lewis is driven on a terrifying quest.

The Darkness of Wallis Simpson

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, The Darkness of Wallis Simpson is a masterful collection of short stories from the prize-winning Rose Tremain

Moving and tragic...the darkness of Rose Tremain is never far from the surface in this brilliantly written short story collection

Written with the deft imagination we've come to know and love from Rose Tremain

Her exactness and lightness of touch in scene-setting are used to superb effect in her short stories...Tremain is restless in her exploration of voices

This collection is a jewel-box containing gems of near perfection... She's a consistently superior writer. Do yourself - and literature - a service: Read her

Rose Tremain is a prolific and much lauded writer but here she is at her best

Painful moments of self-revelation are expertly drawn

A masterful collection of short stories from the prize-winning and bestselling Rose Tremain. 
 
Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American for whom Edward Vlll abdicated the throne, is on her deathbed in her Paris flat, closely guarded by her lawyer who will not allow her any visitors. An East German border guard, redundant after the fall of the Berlin Wall, tries to reach Russia by bicycling across the hostile wastes of Poland.A jilted man gets his revenge. A baby grows wings. A character in an Impressionist painting escapes from his ‘frame’ – or does he? 
 
‘Moving and tragic... The darkness of Rose Tremain is never far from the surface in this brilliantly written short story collection’ Daily Express 
 
‘Classic, breathtaking Tremain’ Independent on Sunday, Books of the Year 
 
‘Mordantly perceptive tales’ Sunday Times

Sacred Country

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, this classic novel about the trans experience was extraordinarily ahead of its time

From the author of The Gustav Sonata 
 
At the age of six, Mary Ward, the child of a poor farming family in Suffolk, has a revelation: 'I am not Mary. That is a mistake. I am not a girl. I'm a boy.' So begins a heroic struggle to change gender, while around her others also strive to find a place of safety and fulfilment in a savage and confusing world. 
 
Over a million Rose Tremain books sold 
 
'A writer of exceptional talent ... Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion' Independent I 
 
'There are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain' Irish Times 
 
'Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect' The Times 
 
'Rose Tremain is one of the very finest British novelists' Salman Rushdie 
 
'Tremain is a writer of exemplary vision and particularity. The fictional world is rendered with extraordinary vividness' Marcel Theroux, Guardian

Funny, absorbing and quite original. I've read nothing to touch it this year

Sacred Country is a book that we give to our friends and are glad to have read…it makes us look forward to Ms. Tremain’s other books with hungry pleasure

We're all something else inside... 
 
1952. Standing in a cold Suffolk field, six-year-old Mary Ward has a revelation: 'I am not Mary. That is a mistake. I am not a girl. I'm a boy.' And so begins a heroic struggle to change gender. Moving from the claustrophobic rural community of the 1950s to London in the swinging Sixties and beyond to the glitter of America in the Seventies, Sacred Country is the story of a journey to find a place of safety and fulfilment in a savage and confusing world.

Trespass

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, Trespass is a thrilling novel about sibling love and devastating revenge

A gripping novel about secrets, siblings and devastating revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author. 
 
'THRILLING...a terrific book, accomplished in its poised, imaginative storytelling and its vivid, sensual rendering of landscape and character, emotion and memory' The Times 
 
In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Its owner is Aramon Lunel, an alcoholic haunted by his violent past. His sister, Audrun, alone in her bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. 
 
Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London seeking to remake his life in France. From the moment he arrives at the Mas Lunel, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion... 
 
‘Taut ...full of suspense...bewitching’ Ruth Scurr, Observer

THRILLING...a terrific book, accomplished in its poised, imaginative storytelling and its vivid, sensual rendering of landscape and character, emotion and memory

An intelligent and terrifyingly plausible meditation

A sumptuously shaded portrait of a private, lonely place and its stranded people

Tremain is a writer of particular elegance and control, and her story unfolds from its arresting first scene to its luminous final image as gracefully as a ballet

The unravelling web of lies and deceit is a gripping tale that holds the reader until the very last page

Truly wonderful, disturbing and thrilling story

With wonderful skill, [Tremain] shows the ripples that circle these two unhappy people...brilliantly evoked

Tremain is a writer whose observations we trust... Equally compelling are her descriptions of the suffering of her characters...Trespass is full of such particular insights

Irresistibly, Tremain leads you into the dark heart of her artful work with prose that is scalpel sharp

A dark, thrilling exploration of the nature of revenge and the legacy of damaged family history

Deft new novel... Tremain is such an assured and measured writer

Tremain expertly maintains the suspense. As one would expect from so gifted a storyteller...much more is on offer than the pleasures of detection

A novel in which humour, pathos and suspense are sewn together with practised skill

Sinister, shocking and extremely powerful

Her writing is always thrilling and this is much more than simply a page-turner

A successful novel, well made and written with a light touch

It is beautifully written, and elegantly edited, and manages to pack in vivid characterisations built on tragic family histories... With its strong structure and interesting themes, it could be a textbook example of how to write a modern novel

Satisfying death-blow to place-in-the-sun escapism

A wry family black comedy, a study in revenge, and an unlikely, if sinister, thriller...a characteristically intelligent, well constructed narrative... The prose is precise and fluent, the tone is neutral, and Tremain makes effective use of the fact that many adults remain children

A criss-crossing, sinuous tale of muted passion and sibling rivarly - and affection - set in the Cevennes. Its peculiar, particular atmosphere is conjured perfectly

A haunting and perfectly poised tale of incest and antiques.

Independent on Sunday, Christmas round up

Surely one of the most versatile novelists writing today... The scene-setting opening is languorous and beautiful, giving full rein to Tremain's descriptive gifts... A disturbing tale and one rich in detail

Tremain expertly heightens the tension in a cleverly fashioned and astutely observed novel that reads like a cross between Ruth Rendell and Jean de Florette

Tremain's extraordinary imagination has produced a powerful, unsettling novel in which two worlds and cultures collide

Tremain writes about this part of France so well because she has known it since childhood, and she captures a sensuality in the landscape that is both attractive and eerie... It is an enthralling book about the catastrophic disruption honesty can bring

The novel has all the formal structure of a medieval morality tale, along with its traditional dichotomies: rus and urbe, avarice and asceticism, chastity and lust

Rose Tremain's thrilling Trespass is set in an obsure valley in Southern France... To be read slowly; Tremain's writing is too exquisite to hurry

Timeless but rooted; tangible but otherworldly. Meticulously plotted, with the musty sadness that comes of cleaving to the past, Trespass will reward your reading time

Rose Tremain's novel begins with a scream and barely loosens its grip amid the sumptuously written pages that follow...subtly harnesses the stifling heat and dangerously feral landscape of southern France to unspool a psychologically disconcerting story of family skeletons and outsider tensions

Like a sinister edition of A Place In the Sun directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with the depth and subtlety that make the book far more than a mere thriller

The American Lover

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, a seductive collection of stories from 'a magnificent story-teller' (Independent on Sunday)

Powerful, involving, wide-ranging collection

Tremain presents a large cast of ill-starred characters, each laid low by their heart… But even in the most melancholy stories, Tremain delivers slivers of hope or humour to temper the tragedies… This collection highlights with subtlety and grace just how human it is to get things wrong

Warm, moving, often humorous and sometimes heartbreaking

A seemingly effortless performance... the writing glides along, elegantly dropping details that suggest a whole way of life

The American Lover is…superb, each story a perfectly cut jewel

A seductive collection of stories from the 'magnificent story-teller' (Independent on Sunday). Rose Tremain has sold over one million copies of her books. 
 
Trapped in a London flat, Beth remembers a transgressive love affair in 1960s Paris. The most famous writer in Russia takes his last breath in a stationmaster’s cottage, miles from Moscow. A father, finally free of his daughter’s demands, embarks on a long swim from his Canadian lakeside retreat. And in the grandest house of all, Danni the Polish housekeeper catches the eye of an enigmatic visitor. 
 
‘Superb, each story a perfectly cut jewel’ Irish Times

Music & Silence

Now reissued with a stunning new jacket look, Music & Silence is a story of love and divided loyalties set in seventeenth century Denmark

In 1629, young English lutenist Peter Claire arrives at the Danish court believing music will secure his future. Instead, he enters a world shaped by suspicion, rivalry and royal power. 
 
Set in Denmark and in the shadow of the Thirty Years’ War, Music & Silence follows Peter as he joins King Christian IV’s royal orchestra at Rosenborg Castle. The musicians perform in a freezing cellar beneath the splendour of the court, a stark contrast to the glittering chambers above. Yet although he is favoured by the King and nicknamed his “Angel”, Peter is drawn into a forbidden love affair with Emilia Tilsen, companion to the King’s estranged wife, Kirsten Munk – and further into court intrigue. 
 
As King Christian’s authority weakens, loyalties fracture. Letters are intercepted, alliances shift, and both Emilia and Peter are threatened with a separation that might extinguish their fragile happiness. 
 
Moving between Copenhagen, Norway and Jutland, Music & Silence tells a story of ambition, political manoeuvring and love tested by exile. 
 
‘The best thing from Denmark since Hamlet.’ John Julius Norwich 
‘The best historical novelist of her generation… an unforgettable tapestry of Eros and art.’ A. N. Wilson

The best thing from Denmark since Hamlet.

A magnificent novel... a brilliant book which will repay many readings

She is the best historical novelist of her generation. She evokes the past with sensuality, wit and superb sleights of hand... The plot is ingenious...an unforgettable tapestry of Eros and of art

Tremain's achievement in Music &amp; Silence is extraordinary ... A narrative as funny as it is compelling

Tremain weaves her web of stories with great visual flair and emotional acuity: This is a fabulous cacophony of passion and despair

Rose Tremain

Books by Rose Tremain

Articles featuring Rose Tremain

Powerful stories that make great gifts

How a brush with death helped inspire Rose Tremain’s new novel

Sacred Country: a novel ahead of its time

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