The Lovely Dark

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What to expect

When 12-year-old Eleanor Newton dies in an accident, she finds herself journeying down a mysterious river that takes her to The Underworld. She apprehensively embarks on her "afterlife" at The Great House, a boarding school of sorts for children who have died.

The Underworld is captivating: always sunny and warm but also fractured, possibly by the sadness of the untimely deaths of its young inhabitants. Sstrange things have been happening to Ellie since she arrived: she knows something isn't right, and she doesn't want to be there. She desperately wants to get back to the world of The Living to meet her new baby brother, even if it means being a ghost.

Can Ellie find a way out of the Underworld? And who - or what - will she be if she does?

The Lovely Dark is another breathtakingly original story from Matthew Fox, author of The Sky Over Rebecca.

Critics Review

Fox is a beguiling writer, whose prose cocoons us through the unusual adventures that follow … [the twist] left this not-so-young reader close to tears

The Telegraph, 5-star review

A beautiful, reassuring, exciting, middle grade story of what might happen to us after we die. While it doesn’t shy away from the pain of grief, The Lovely Dark isn’t nearly as dark as it is lovely.

Tia Fisher, author of Crossing the Line

Wow. Just wow. If you love atmospheric, mysterious middle grade with a magical edge, poetic writing, and a nod to Greek myth, you have to read this.

Claire Fayers, author of The Accidental Pirates

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