The Midnight Charter

David Whitley was born in 1984 and at the age of twenty he won the Cheshire Prize for Literature. He later graduated from the University of Oxford with a double first in English Literature. TV quiz fans will have spotted David on BBC2's University Challenge, when he was a member of Oxford's Corpus Christi team who became Series Champions in 2005.

In the city of Agora, anything can be bought and sold. Even children are possessions until their twelfth birthday. 
 
Mark has been sold by his father, and Lily, an orphan from birth, has bartered for her life. Thrown together by chance, in the ancient tower of Count Stelli, they face an existence of poverty and servitude, unless they can find a way to break free. 
 
But, unbeknown to Mark and Lily, they are being watched by the ruler of the city. Can they survive the traps and treachery that await them and discover the dark secret that binds them together? 
 
Their lives depend on this question: what is the Midnight Charter?

David Whitley

MARK AND LILY HAVE BEEN BANISHED from Agora, the ancient city-state where everything is for sale - memories, emotions - even children. 
 
Lost and alone they discover Giseth, a seemingly perfect land where everyone is equal, possessions are unknown, and Lily believes they will find the secret of their entwined destiny. 
 
But paradise comes at a price. Why are their new friends so scared? What hides deep in the forest? And who is the mysterious woman who appears in their dreams, urging them to find the Children of the Lost?

The Children of the Lost

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Kate-Atkinson

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

prhuk-authors

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

David Whitley

Books by David Whitley

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter