The Shadow Year - Softcover

Richell, Hannah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1455554332 ISBN 13: 9781455554331

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

From the internationally bestselling author of The House of Tides, a psychologically gripping novel about a group of college graduates who decide to live off the grid--and the consequences for their lives.



Still grieving the death of her prematurely delivered infant, Lila finds a welcome distraction in renovating a country house she's recently inherited. Surrounded by blueprints and plaster dust, though, she finds herself drawn into the story of a group of idealistic university grads from thirty years before, who'd thrown off the shackles of bourgeois city life to claim the cottage and rely only on each other on the land. But utopia-building can be fraught with unexpected peril, and when the fate of the group is left eerily unclear, Lila turns her attention to untangling a web of secrets to uncover the shocking truth of what happened that fateful year, in order to come to terms with her own loss and build a new future for herself.

Suspenseful and moving, with a deep secret at its heart, The Shadow Year is Hannah Richell's breakout book.

About this title

About the Author

Hannah Richell was born in England. After graduating from the University of Nottingham, she worked in the book publishing and film industries. She now lives with her husband and two young children in Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

On a hot summer day in 1980, a group of friends travel to England’s Peak District and discover an abandoned lakeside cottage. They decide to embark on an experiment to stay in the cottage for one year and live off the land. Fast-forward 30 years. Lila Bailey, a London decorator mourning the death of her infant daughter, receives a mysterious package in the mail containing the deed to the property. Told by different narrators in alternating chapters, Richell’s latest novel follows the lives of the original group of friends and the ongoing drama of their isolated communal lives while also following Lila as she throws herself into cottage renovations and discovers the healing powers of living among the beauty and simplicity of nature. Richell, whose House of Tides (2010) was shortlisted for the Australian Independent Bookseller Best Debut Fiction Award, has written an absorbing, deeply satisfying novel examining the relationships that make up our lives and what happens when the best intentions go deeply astray. Beautifully written and skillfully woven, this is a compelling tale of tragedy and forgiveness. --Carol Gladstein

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1455554332
• ISBN 13: 9781455554331
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 392