The residents of a sleepy mountain town are rocked by mysterious visions of an alternate reality in this cinematic debut that combines the family-driven suspense of Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere with the inventive storytelling of The Immortalists and Station Eleven.
Nestling in the shadow of the dormant volcano of Broken Mountain lies the small town of Clearing where four neighbours live contentedly side by side. From the outside it is a place like any other, perhaps mistier, certainly greener. Look closer, and you find cracks: missed opportunities, dreams forfeited; love unrequited. What will it take for any of them to turn their life around?
GINNY is a surgeon, tormented by the loss of a patient’s life, and rapidly falling out of love with her husband, MARK: a scientist carrying out research no one believes in. Next door is SAMARA, still grieving over the early death of her mother, the local estate agent. Opposite lives CASS, a scholar on maternity leave, embittered by the interruption of her game-changing studies by motherhood.
As Broken Mountain shows signs of erupting, the neighbours begin to catch vivid visions of themselves in another life – a happier, more fulfilled one. Suddenly, the choices they’ve taken to make them who they are, come crashing down, with unexpected consequences.
Imprint: Black Swan
Published: 01/01/2030
ISBN: 9781784163938
Length: 266 Pages
RRP: £8.99
"A mind-bending reflection on the nature of free choice and time. What if, just for a moment, we could see other paths we might have taken? If we collided with alternate versions of ourselves, would we change our own destinies? Kate Hope Day writes with a tender and vivid attention to the extraordinary details of ordinary lives. A fascinating and moving debut."
"A gorgeous novel that asks us to imagine all the possible versions of ourselves that might exist. A must read."
"A suburban drama built to leap from page to screen"
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Effortlessly meshing the dreamlike and the realistic, [Kate Hope] Day’s well-crafted mix of literary and speculative fiction is an enthralling meditation on the interconnectedness of all things.
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