Benjamin Wood

The mesmerising new novel from the acclaimed author of The Bellwether Revivals: a rich and immersive story of love, obsession, creativity and disintegration. On a forested island off the coast of Istanbul stands Portmantle, a gated refuge for beleaguered artists. There, a curious assembly of painters, architects, writers and musicians strive to restore their faded talents. Elspeth 'Knell' Conroy is a celebrated painter who has lost faith in her ability and fled the dizzying art scene of 1960s London. On the island, she spends her nights locked in her blacked-out studio, testing a strange new pigment for her elusive masterpiece. But when a disaffected teenager named Fullerton arrives at the refuge, he disrupts its established routines. He is plagued by a recurring nightmare that steers him into danger, and Knell is left to pick apart the chilling mystery. Where did the boy come from, what is 'The Ecliptic', and how does it relate to their abandoned lives in England?

Part Secret History, part Brideshead Revisited for the 21st century, The Bellwether Revivals is a page-turning, romantic, eerie tale of genius and, possibly, madness; a stunning debut for fans of Sarah Waters, Donna Tartt, and Lauren Goff. The Bellwether Revivals opens and closes with bodies. The story of whose bodies and how they come to be spread about an elegant house on the river near Cambridge is told by Oscar, a young, bright working class man who has fallen in love with an upper-class Cambridge student, Iris, and thereby become entangled with a group of close friends, led by Iris's charismatic, brilliant, possibly dangerous brother. For Eden Bellwether believes he can heal -- and perhaps more -- through the power of music. In this masterful debut, we too are seduced by this gilded group of young people, entranced by Eden's powerful personality and his obvious talent as a musician, and caught off guard by the strangeness of Iris and Eden's parents. And we find ourselves utterly unsure as to whether Eden Bellweather is a saviour or a villain, and whether Oscar will be able to solve this mystery in time to save himself, if not everyone else.

Cambridge, nuestros días. Oscar, un enfermero de una residencia de ancianos, conoce a la seductora Iris Bellwether, estudiante de medicina, violonchelista e hija de la burguesía acomodada de la ciudad. Inmediatamente se enamora de ella y entra a formar parte de su grupo de amigos. Es un circulo exclusivo integrado por unos jovenes con unos origenes muy diferentes a los suyos, entre los cuales sobresale Eden, el hermano de Iris, un personaje narcisista y carismatico, convencido de poder sanar a traves de la musica y de la hipnosis. Pero ¿quien es en realidad EdenBellwether? ¿Un genio o un manipulador?

Una cautiva historia de amor

The mesmerising new novel from the acclaimed author of The Bellwether Revivals: a rich and immersive story of love, obsession, creativity and disintegration. On a forested island off the coast of Istanbul stands Portmantle, a gated refuge for beleaguered artists. There, a curious assembly of painters, architects, writers and musicians strive to restore their faded talents. Elspeth 'Knell' Conroy is a celebrated painter who has lost faith in her ability and fled the dizzying art scene of 1960s London. On the island, she spends her nights locked in her blacked-out studio, testing a strange new pigment for her elusive masterpiece. But when a disaffected teenager named Fullerton arrives at the refuge, he disrupts its established routines. He is plagued by a recurring nightmare that steers him into danger, and Knell is left to pick apart the chilling mystery. Where did the boy come from, what is 'The Ecliptic', and how does it relate to their abandoned lives in England?

Longferry, England, Sechzigerjahre. Thomas Flett ist Anfang zwanzig und lebt mit seiner Mutter in armlichen Verhaltnissen. Seinen Vater hat er nie kennengelernt. Die Schule hat er abgebrochen, er verdingt sich als Krabbenfischer: ein Handwerk, das ihn sein Grovater gelehrt hat. Niemand kennt das Meer und seine Gezeiten so gut wie Thomas. Fruh am Morgen bei Niedrigwasser fahrt er mit Pferd und Kutsche los, um sich den Unterhalt fur den Tag zu verdienen, ein Leben von der Hand in den Mund. Heimlich lernt er Gitarre spielen und traumt von Joan, der Schwester seines besten Freundes. Aber fur Traume ist kein Platz in Longferry.Als der amerikanische Regisseur Edgar Acheson in der Stadt eintrifft, wird Thomas vermeintlich einfaches Leben erschuttert. Er bekommt eine Ahnung von der groen, weiten Welt, davon, was da drauen auf ihn warten konnte, und schliet Freundschaft mit dem Mann, der in jeder Hinsicht anders ist als er. Ein Funke in ihm ist entzundet aber nichts ist so, wie es scheint. Nur eines ist sicher: Am nachsten Morgen bei Niedrigwasser wird Thomas wieder dem Ruf des Meeres folgen.Mit "Der Krabbenfischer" steht Benjamin Wood auf der Longlist fur den renommierten Booker Prize 2025.

A mesmerising portrait of a young man confined in by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of artistic fulfilment. It confirms Benjamin Wood as an exceptional talent in British literature.'One of the finest British novelists of his generation' Times'A huge talent' Hilary Mantel'Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written' Douglas StuartThomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpas trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.