In a sinisterly skewed version of England in 1979, thirteen-year-old triplets Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a New Forest home, part of the government''s Sycamore Scheme. Each day, the boys must take medicine to protect themselves from a mysterious illness to which many of their friends have succumbed. Children who survive are allowed to move to the Big House in Margate, a destination of mythical proportions, desired by every Sycamore child. Meanwhile, in Exeter, Nancy lives a secluded life with her parents, who never let her leave the house. She watches Rainbow and Antiques Roadshow and Jim''ll Fix It while her father painstakingly constructs a model village that is taking over the entire sitting room. As the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes and place their residents into the community, the triplets'' lives begin to intersect with Nancy''s, culminating in revelations that will rock the children to the core. Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a spellbinding page-turner from one of our greatest storytellers: a profoundly unnerving and urgent exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.

Autorentext

Catherine Chidgey is the author of In a Fishbone Church (1998), Golden Deeds (2000), The Transformation (2003), The Wish Child (2016), the 'found novel' The Beat of the Pendulum (2019), Remote Sympathy (2021), Pet (2023) and The Axeman's Carnival (2024). Her novels have been published to international acclaim and have been shortlisted and won numerous prizes. She lives in Ng ruaw hia, New Zealand, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Waikato.

Klappentext

England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government's Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.

Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams.
Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge.
And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.

All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.

Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a profoundly unnerving exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.