Ancestry

Ancestry A Novel

1st paperback ed

Paperback (01 Jun 2023)

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Publisher's Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION



'Utterly absorbing, cleverly constructed and beautifully written' The Times

'Moving and exhilarating' Spectator

'Evokes the messiness and fragility of everyday life in the nineteenth century' Daily Mail

Almost two hundred years ago, Abraham, an illiterate urchin, scavenges on a Suffolk beach and dreams of running away to sea ... Naomi, a seventeen-year-old seamstress, imagines a new life in the big city ... George, a private soldier of the 50th Regiment of Food, marries his Irish bride, Annie, in the cathedral in Manchester and together they face married life under arms. Now these people exist only in the bare bones of registers and census lists but they were once real enough.

Simon Mawer puts flesh on our ancestors' bones to bring them to life and give them voice. There is birth and death; there is love, both open and legal but also hidden and illicit. Yet the thread that connects these disparate figures is something that they cannot have known - the unbreakable bond of family.

About the Publisher

Abacus

Abacus

Abacus is home to some of the world?s most renowned authors, including Donna Tartt, Gore Vidal, Jane Gardam, Primo Levi and Beryl Bainbridge. In 2013, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with the reissue of 18 of our classic books ? a wonderfully diverse collection ranging from Douglas Coupland?s Generation X and Iain Banks? The Wasp Factory, to Tom Holland?s Rubicon and Alexander McCall Smith?s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Originally a non-fiction list with something of an ecological flavour, Abacus has evolved over the years to become one of the most renowned homes for quality fiction and non-fiction, and one with a particularly strong tradition in bestselling memoirs, notably Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom and historian William Woodruff's double No. 1 bestsellers The Road to Nab End and Beyond Nab End. Our non-fiction publishing grew further with the publication of books by some of the most influential writers in their fields, such as Tim Harford, Gillian Tett and Tom Holland, and our fiction publishing continues to go from strength to strength, driven by a new generation of novelists like Kevin Maher and A. D. Miller, who sit alongside global bestsellers like Anita Shreve and Candace Bushnell.

Book information

ISBN: 9780349144979
Publisher: Little, Brown
Imprint: Abacus
Pub date:
Edition: 1st paperback ed
DEWEY: 823.92
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Sales rank: 8029
Number of pages: 414
Weight: 332g
Height: 135mm
Width: 229mm
Spine width: 40mm