Magpie Lane: a riveting, twisty and deeply compelling read

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Quercus Publishing, Feb 1, 2020 - Fiction - 368 pages

'An utter joy . . . wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry
'Riveting, twisty, page-turning stuff' Guardian
'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy, and an utterly compelling read' Claire Fuller

When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers.

As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother.

But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why is Felicity silent?

Roaming Oxford's secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family - and what it is to be denied one.

A Book of the Year pick for BBC Radio 4 Open Book, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Good Housekeeping

'Tender, creepy and gripping' Sunday Times
'The page turner you've been looking for. Sly, witty and gripping . . . I devoured it' Naomi Alderman
'Spellbinding and spooky . . . a dazzling high wire act, superbly absorbing' Sunday Mirror
'Enthralling . . . creepy and compelling' The Times
'Deliciously dark' Alexandra Shulman
'A gorgeously satisfying triumph' Lucy Mangan
'A rare thing . . . simply stunning' Daily Express
'I was gripped . . . highly original' Alex Clark
'Creepy, suspenseful' Independent
'One of the most intriguing narrators since Notes on a Scandal' Sara Collins
'Grown-up and cleverly written . . . a dizzying sense of uncertainty' Literary Review
'Keeps you guessing . . . a real sense of menace' Good Housekeeping
'Wholly beguiling' Mick Herron
'Dazzlingly good' Diane Setterfield
'Beautiful writing' Polly Samson
'Clever, tense and twisty' Amanda Craig
'Highly intelligent' Sarah Vaughan
'Simply brilliant!' JP Delaney
'Darkly atmospheric' Jane Fallon
'Clever and creepy' Erin Kelly
'Highly recommended' Louise Candlish

 

Contents

Chapter
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33

Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Epilogue
About the Author
Copyright

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About the author (2020)

Lucy Atkins is an award-winning author, feature journalist and Sunday Times book critic. She has written for newspapers including the Guardian, The Times, the Sunday Times and the Telegraph as well as many UK magazines. She teaches on the Masters in Creative Writing at Oxford University.

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