'MESMERIC, TERRIFYING AND WONDERFUL' M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts

'I was cursed in Natal, in 1884. Cursed by truth and by blood. The shadow took to me, and we have been together since.'

From the bestselling and award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K comes a powerful new novel about a young man haunted by a ghost from his past, and by the dark crimes committed in the name of the British empire.

**'**North's talent shines out' Sunday Times

'An irresistible haunting thrill' Joe Hill author of Horns and Locke and Key

'Remarkable . . . One of the most moving, horrifying and gut-wrenching novels of the year' NPR

'A suspenseful tale of the truths that lie hidden in the human heart' Kirkus

'North goes from strength to strength' Guardian

'North's most ambitious novel to date' Locus

'A master of ingenious plotting and feats of imagination' Alex Marwood, author of The Wicked Girls

Novels by Claire North:

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Touch

The Sudden Appearance of Hope

The End of the Day

84K

The Gameshouse

The Pursuit of William Abbey

Notes from the Burning Age

Ithaca