The Pesthouse

An evocative novel about the transformative power of love.

‘The Pesthouse finds the author not just on his own best form, but arguably the best form any English writer has shown in the last couple of years’ Spectator

A devastated America exists in an imagined future. Its technologies are forgotten, its communities have splintered and its refugees, reversing the course of history, travel eastwards in search of safety and a new start. Among them are Franklin and Margaret, young, bereft, forced together by circumstance; but finding that love, courage and determination can endure even as a country breaks slowly apart.

‘Evoking the cracked terrain of a depleted America, Crace proves himself a fine stylist, sensitive to the cadence of every sentence’ Financial Times

‘Entirely compelling. The story is a gripping, harrowing adventure tale and Crace’s language is extraordinary . . . The Pesthouse resonates like an unresolved chord’ New Statesman

‘Gripping, exciting and oddly romantic’ Daily Mail