Not all books should be opened. In this thrilling fantasy debut, meet the family tasked with guarding a trove of magical but deadly books, and the shadowy organisation that will do anything to get them back.

* The instant Sunday Times bestseller *

* Good Morning America’s June book club pick *

* Apple Book of the Year in Audio *

’A bold, new novel from an extraordinary new voice.’ Marlon James

’Simply a delight from start to finish.’ New York Times

’A spectacularly spellbinding debut.’ The Fantasy Hive

’A magnificent debut.’ The Bookseller

’A delight from start to finish.’ Chloe Benjamin

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Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books that will allow someone to walk through walls or turn water into wine. Books of magic.

Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness.

But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger.

If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden from them - secrets that span centuries and continents, and could cost them their lives ...

* New York Times Notable Book for 2023 *

* Best Book of 2023 by NPR! *

’A fantastic magical adventure, not to be missed.’ Kirkus Starred Review

’No boxes go unticked in this fabulous page-turner, a searing debut about two sisters with very different powers.’ Daily Mail

’This debut novel is an absolute delight, weaving a convincing occult underground into real-world settings.’ Guardian

’Downright irresistible’ Washington Post

’Spellbinding... This is a must-read.’ Publishers Weekly

’A twisty and thrilling fantasy.’ Kelly Link, Get in Trouble

’An adventure, a puzzle, a twisty thriller, and a tender romance.’ Alix E Harrow, The Once And Future Witches

’Chilling and charming ... Törz’s debut is a love letter to stories everywhere.’ Roshani Chokshi, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

’A magical book, brimming with all the elements that make a story sing ... A gorgeously satisfying read.’ Lesley Nneka Arimah, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

Sunday Times bestseller, July 2023

EMMA TORZS

EMMA TÖRZS is a writer, teacher, and occasional translator based in Minneapolis,

Minnesota. Her fiction has been honored with an NEA fellowship in prose,

a World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction, and an O. Henry Prize. Her stories

have been published in journals such as Ploughshares, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed,

Strange Horizons, and American Short Fiction. She received her MFA from

the University of Montana, Missoula, and is an enthusiastic member of the

Clarion West class of 2017.