The Dig: A Novel

THE BASIS FOR THE NETFLIX FILM STARRING CAREY MULLIGAN, RALPH FIENNES, AND LILY JAMES 

A literary adventure that tells the story of a priceless buried treasure discovered in England on the eve of World War II
 
In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find.

This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure. As the war looms ever closer, engraved gold peeks through the soil, and each character searches for answers in the buried treasure. Their threads of love, loss, and aspiration weave a common awareness of the past as something that can never truly be left behind.

John Preston is a former arts editor of the Sunday Telegraph and Evening Standard. He is the author of A Very English Scandal, the basis of the Emmy Award–winning miniseries, and the novel The Dig, the basis for the Netflix original film. He lives in London.