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The Quickening
- Author
- Claire McGowan
- Narrator
- Tamsin Kennard
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Publish Date
- 9 July 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 29 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'An essential and chilling read' Heat magazine
'A wild and page-turning thriller' The Sun
'Perilous and gripping' Woman & Home magazine
'Highly recommended for book clubs . . . so many talking points' Prima magazine
YOUR BODY. THEIR CHOICE.
The Hope Party's new laws have transformed Great Britain: the countryside rewilded, children's rights prioritised, and births on the rise. But freedom is fading.
Karen has learned to navigate this new world, keeping her head down as her fertility is constantly monitored. As her husband's career thrives, while hers stalls. As her son is drawn into misogynist groups. Like everyone else, she's too frightened to speak up.
Until her teenage daughter reveals a life-changing secret: she's pregnant. With abortion and contraception banned, her future has gone up in flames. But Karen won't let this happen - Charlotte is going to have the life she lost.
Karen turns to her sister Isobel, a doctor who's initially reluctant to help. But when they learn Charlotte's pregnancy is ectopic and life-threatening, the stakes skyrocket. The three women go on the run, getting deeper into danger with every hour that passes. With powerful enemies on their tail, they will risk everything in a desperate fight for freedom, and for life.
The Quickening is a powerful exploration of motherhood, sacrifice, and the terrifying cost of complicity. For fans of Vox, Red Clocks, and The Handmaid's Tale.
Critics Review
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So clever and terrifying and moving and compelling and thought-provoking
Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request
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Amazing premise and so well executed . . . One of my books of the year already
Robyn Delvey, author of The Seven
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A white-knuckle ride of a thriller that's also a study of motherhood, power, cowardice and courage. In every chapter I found myself wondering what I would do in the characters' shoes and found no easy answers. Immersive, enraging and terrifyingly plausible.
Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key
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The not-so-distant future is a terrifyingly plausible place in The Quickening, but Claire McGowan has a gift for finding the grace and humanity in our darkest corners. A supremely good read
Louise Candlish, author of Our House
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Relentlessly fast-paced and gripping, The Quickening is a chilling, high-octane blend of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984. I loved it
Mark Edwards, author of The Magpies
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When teenager Charlotte finds she has a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, she goes on the run with her mum and doctor aunt, and begins a perilous and gripping journey.
Woman and Home, August's Book Club
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[A] gripping, dystopian thriller . . . A timely and frightening take on the age-old battle for women to have rights over their own bodies, The Quickening is an essential - and chilling - read.
Heat magazine
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I'd highly recommend this for book clubs, as there are so many talking points. Dystopian or scarily believable? You decide.
Prima magazine
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A wild and page-turning thriller
the Sun
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This is the sort of novel that stays with you long after you have closed the book. It is gripping, emotional and thought provoking, while also delivering all the pace and suspense of an outstanding thriller. I can already imagine The Quickening creating lively discussion in book groups. Highly recommended.
Random Things Through My Letterbox
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A tense, dystopian thriller grounded in urgent, real-world stakes.
Woman & Home - 12 books our editor recommends this August
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A powerful novel of motherhood, cowardice and courage
Irish Times
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This compelling, cautionary tale acts as a reminder that we should all take more notice of how our society is governed. Superb
Irish Independent
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Claire McGowan
- Narrator
- Tamsin Kennard
- Duration
- 10 hours 29 minutes
- Release Date
- 9 July 2026
- ISBN
- 9781405568630
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Dystopian and utopian fiction
Synopsis
'A white-knuckle ride of a thriller' Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key'An essential and chilling read' Heat magazine'A wild and page-turning thriller' The Sun'Perilous and gripping' Woman & Home magazine'Highly recommended for book clubs . . . so many talking points' Prima magazineYOUR BODY. THEIR CHOICE.The Hope Party's new laws have transformed Great Britain: the countryside rewilded, children's rights prioritised, and births on the rise. But freedom is fading. Karen has learned to navigate this new world, keeping her head down as her fertility is constantly monitored. As her husband's career thrives, while hers stalls. As her son is drawn into misogynist groups. Like everyone else, she's too frightened to speak up.Until her teenage daughter reveals a life-changing secret: she's pregnant. With abortion and contraception banned, her future has gone up in flames. But Karen won't let this happen - Charlotte is going to have the life she lost.Karen turns to her sister Isobel, a doctor who's initially reluctant to help. But when they learn Charlotte's pregnancy is ectopic and life-threatening, the stakes skyrocket. The three women go on the run, getting deeper into danger with every hour that passes. With powerful enemies on their tail, they will risk everything in a desperate fight for freedom, and for life. The Quickening is a powerful exploration of motherhood, sacrifice, and the terrifying cost of complicity. For fans of Vox, Red Clocks, and The Handmaid's Tale.
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