by David Almond
First published 2014
Claire has always been there for Ella Grey. She stands beside her best friend when a mysterious stranger appears in their industrial North East town, among the empty shipyards and crumbling mines. The newcomer is Orpheus, and his arrival changes everything. Claire watches helplessly as Ella falls into a love so intense it seems to steal her away completely. What begins as jealousy over a lost friendship becomes something far more devastating. When death separates the lovers, Claire discovers that some bonds transcend even mortality. She must bear witness to a story that challenges everything she believed about love, loss, and the power of devotion. As the sole survivor of this extraordinary tale, Claire becomes its reluctant chronicler, carrying the weight of what she has seen and the responsibility of telling a story that refuses to end with death.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, fantasy, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: North East, United Kingdom
Period: 21st-century
272 pages · ebook · Hachette
Content warnings: death