Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE 2021
‘So sharply, so utterly brilliant that I found myself holding my breath while reading it, dazzled by Fuller’s mastery and precision’ LAUREN GROFF, author of Fates and Furies
__________________________________________________________________________
What if the life you have always known is taken from you in an instant? What would you do to get it back? Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.
But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother’s secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake. Unsettled Ground is a heart-stopping novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival.
It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness. ____________________________________________________________________
‘Her strongest yet… a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience’ THE TIMES
‘A gorgeously written celebration of the natural world as well as a moving portrait of a family struggling against time’ LUCY TAN
‘An atmospheric thriller that’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming’ RED
Laura Besley –
‘Unsettled Ground’ (Fig Tree, 2021) by Claire Fuller – Winner of the Costa Novel Award – is the story of Jeanie and Julius, 51-year old twins, who lose their mother suddenly. In the aftermath of this shocking event, as more and more of their mother’s secrets come to light, their lives unravel.
Told seamlessly through both points of view, and the miniscule details that make up people’s lives, ‘Unsettled Ground’ is a beautiful book which explores themes of love, loss, missed opportunities and a sense of belonging.