Author(s): Sandra Newman

Novel

The year's most mind-expanding love story.

Description: New York, 2000. Kate and Ben meet at a party and fall instantly, irrevocably in love. Around them, the city glows. It is the first year without a war anywhere. A woman is president, and an air of camaraderie permeates the streets of Manhattan. Kate falls asleep, knowing she is loved. London, 1593. Kate wakes as Emilia - the mistress of a nobleman - and finds the plague at her door. Afflicted by premonitions of a burnt and lifeless city, she sets out to save the world. Each decision she makes will change her life with Ben for ever. A story of love and alternate universes, madness and time travel, The Heavens is a dream bound up in a strange awakening; it is a novel of what we have lost, and what we might yet be able to save. Praise for Sandra Newman: 'What an astonishing achievement. I can't remember when I last read something so original or sophisticated or emotionally engaging or so breathtakingly ambitious.' Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life 'Extraordinary ... As the momentum builds ... raw, addictive lyricism develops.' - Guardian 'Captivating.' - Independent 'Haunting and heartbreaking... Epic.' - Vanity Fair

Author Biography: Sandra Newman is the author of three previous novels; The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done, (shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award), Cake and The Country of Ice Cream Star (longlisted for the Bailey's Prize for Women's Literature). She co-authored the hugely successful How Not to Write a Novel. She has also written The Western Lit Survival Kit, Read This Next, and a memoir, Changeling. She lives in New York.