The Book of Speculation cover art

The Book of Speculation

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

The Book of Speculation

By: Erika Swyler
Narrated by: Johnny Carr
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £13.76

Buy Now for £13.76

The Book of Speculation is Erika Swyler's gorgeous and moving debut, a wondrous novel about the power of books, family, and magic.

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 200 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.

©2015 Erika Swyler (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Coming of Age Family Life Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Magic Magical Realism Sea Adventures Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Adventure Scary
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

"A quirky, raucous and bewitching family saga. I absolutely loved this book." (Sara Gruen)
No reviews yet