The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

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What to expect

*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

'An unputdownable novel about female friendship and the events that shape us' COSMOPOLITAN

'Addictive, nostalgic and comforting, this layered family mystery crept round my heart' CLAIRE DAVERLEY

Pen and Alice, childhood best friends from Toronto, are in their first year at the University of Edinburgh. Each has come to the city for her own reasons.

Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she'll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father's - now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox - lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lennox's centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents' secret, just as she's falling in love for the first time . . .

Meanwhile Alice, an aspiring actor, sees university as her route to the West End and beyond. The star of this year's theatre production, she's making the most of the power she wields as an object of desire - until an affair with her tutor begins to slip from her control.

Witty, warm and wildly unputdownable, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is at once a love story and an irresistible mystery, a celebration of female friendship, and a study of how looking back can help us move forward.

'A book to lose yourself in' FRAN LITTLEWOOD
'Brimming with heart' JENNY JACKSON
'Luminous . . . as smart as it is delicious, as nostalgic as it feels fresh' ASHLEY AUDRAIN
'Joyous, clever, and wholly transportive' KATY HAYS
'Emma Knight's witty, wistful debut will keep you up all night' JOANNA RAKOFF
'A spellbinding debut about friendship, motherhood, first love, and the choices that bind us' CARLEY FORTUNE

Critics Review

Addictive, nostalgic and comforting, this layered family mystery crept round my heart like a modern-day Dodie Smith
Claire Daverley, international bestselling author of TALKING AT NIGHT
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a spellbinding debut about friendship, motherhood, first love, and the choices that bind us. Emma Knight whisks us away to Scotland, where Penelope Winters navigates her first year at Edinburgh University while untangling a family mystery. I couldn't put it down!
Carley Fortune, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT and MEET ME AT THE LAKE
I'm in love with this luminous debut - the charm on every page, the enthralling cast of characters, the dialogue to die for. Academia, friendship, young love and family secrets, this is as smart as it is delicious, as nostalgic as it feels fresh. I wish I could read it all over again for the first time. Emma Knight is a blazing new literary talent
Ashley Audrain, #1 bestselling author of THE PUSH and THE WHISPERS
Whip smart, unrestrainedly fun, and bursting with heart, readers will fall in love with the rambling, glorious world of Talmòrach and the secretive, aristocratic family of Lord Lennox. A novel about finding ourselves, falling in love, and meeting that precious group of friends whom we call family, Knight's debut is the modern-day Mitford novel I've been searching for. Joyous, clever, and wholly transportive, I loved every page!
Katy Hays, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE CLOISTERS
Sally Rooney fans, take note! Emma Knight's witty, wistful debut will keep you up all night, pondering the mystery and romance at its core, and rooting for Knight's irresistible heroine. I loved it
Joanna Rakoff, international bestselling author of MY SALINGER YEAR
Brimming with heart, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a story about parents and children, friends and lovers, and that moment when a young person must strike out on her own to claim the life she most wants. Emma Knight swept me off my feet
Jenny Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street
Wonderfully crafted, Emma Knight's story of friendship, family secrets and first love made me nostalgic about the act of reading itself. Mystery, intrigue, posh Scots and academia, it's a book to lose yourself in. Pro tip: carry it around the house, like I did, for maximum snatched read-time. A beautifully written, page-turning delight!
Fran Littlewood, the internationally bestselling author of AMAZING GRACE ADAMS
I loved escaping into this world. Knight is a fantastic writer and perfectly captures the intense friendships, insecurities, and rollicking highs and lows of youth
Nell Hudson, author of JUST FOR TODAY
A sweeping story of friendship, first love, and family secrets, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus feels simultaneously timeless and incredibly fresh. Emma Knight's writing perfectly balances warmth with wistfulness, and her characters are so vivid you'll swear you've met them in real life. This is the type of book you'll stay up far past your bedtime reading (with absolutely zero regrets) - it's pure magic
Genevieve Wheeler, author of ADELAIDE
Oh, how I adored this novel! I found it so utterly charming and delightful, a much needed respite
Huma Qureshi
I could easily read five more novels about the adventures of Pen and Alice . . . Told over the course of one year, it's an unputdownable novel about female friendship and the events that shape us
Cosmopolitan
[A] winsome tale of one young woman's coming-of-age . . . a tantalizing yet quietly touching debut about inheritance, emerging sexuality and what it truly means to come into one's own
The New York Times Book Review
We love this Edinburgh-set debut . . . a rollercoaster ride of youth, with all its passion, insecurities, heady highs and crushing lows
The Sunday Post
A lovely and poignant coming-of-age story
Kirkus
A witty novel about navigating independence and complicated relationships
People
An amazingly accomplished debut
Oprah Daily
Memorable characters, witty moments, Scottish settings . . . Emma Knight's debut novel has it all. . . . A powerful tale about love, life, choices and friendship
Woman's World
The coming-of-age tale for a generation
The Globe and Mail

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