Overview

Simon Watson lives alone on the Long Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the edge of a cliff that is slowly crumbling into the sea. His parents are long dead, his mother having drowned in the water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, works for a travelling carnival and seldom calls. On a day in late June, Simon receives a mysterious book from an antiquarian bookseller; it has been sent to him because it is inscribed with the name Verona Bonn, Simon's grandmother. The book tells the story of two doomed lovers who were part of a travelling circus more than two hundred years ago. The paper crackles with age as Simon turns the yellowed pages filled with notes and sketches. He is fascinated, yet as he reads Simon becomes increasingly unnerved. Why do so many women in his family drown on 24th July? And could Enola, who has suddenly turned up at home for the first time in years, risk the same terrible fate? As 24th July draws ever closer, Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his family history, before it's too late.

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9781489019165

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Reviews

'A quirky, raucous and bewitching family saga. I absolutely loved this book.' -- Sara Gruen 'The Book of Speculation is a luscious experience - dark, sweet, and wild.' -- Katherine Dunn 'Debut author Swyler creates a melancholy world with hints of magic at the edges ... Fans of ... Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, or Katherine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, wont' want to leave this festival.' -- Library Journal

Author Information

Erika Swyler, a graduate of New York University, is a writer and playwright whose work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies. Born and raised on Long Island's north shore, Erika learned to swim before she could walk, and happily spent all her money at travelling carnivals. She is also a baker and photographer. Johnny Carr is an actor and writer, known for The Greatest Love of All (2014), Suburban Mayhem (2006) and That's Not Me (2016).

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