Alston Moor
Will be published approx. on 29. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-915983-55-8 (ISBN)
Description
In an epic novel set on the North Pennine Moors, Elizabeth has abandoned avalanche science to restore desolate peatlands. She treks in the footsteps of Isabel who, five centuries earlier, herds her cattle to remote summering grounds.
Both are reeling from the overwhelming crises of their day. In 1548, Isabel and her father, together with the priest in this poorest of parishes, grapple with the chaos of the protestant reformation. Today, a grieving Elizabeth fights to save an invaluable ecosystem, one that is threatened by wilful fire-raising and arson.The entwined stories are told through multiple voices creating a rich portrait of England's most remote landscape. At its heart, this deeply moving novel interrogates how society confronts crisis whether through science, faith or superstitIon.
Both are reeling from the overwhelming crises of their day. In 1548, Isabel and her father, together with the priest in this poorest of parishes, grapple with the chaos of the protestant reformation. Today, a grieving Elizabeth fights to save an invaluable ecosystem, one that is threatened by wilful fire-raising and arson.The entwined stories are told through multiple voices creating a rich portrait of England's most remote landscape. At its heart, this deeply moving novel interrogates how society confronts crisis whether through science, faith or superstitIon.
Reviews / Votes
"How easy it is to destroy ourselves, and how difficult to mend. Alston Moor is a deeply skilful piece of writing, weaving the contemporary and the historical. It suggests how, throughout hard times, we can look to the world around us, and strive to be part of a community that hopes, and heals."-Aliya Whitely, author of The Loosening Skin shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award."Alston Moor has a quiet brilliance and wise humanity that kept me spellbound. Charnock has a remarkable gift for making her characters living, breathing people; we feel them as ourselves. It's especially remarkable in the historical chapters, which may be the best depiction I've ever read of the lives of ordinary people of the past. The treatment of scientific endeavour in the present-day sections is equally impressive and intimately real... and the writing is just gorgeous. An irreplaceable book."-Sandra Newman, author of The Heavens and Julia.
"Alston Moor is fiction of the highest order. It moves between its two periods with authority and grace, offering generous parallels and harmonies. The medieval setting is richly imagined and researched and uncommonly convincing, while the contemporary story is captivating and urgent. Charnock writes with elegance and wisdom and a seriousness of purpose, and showing at all times respect and compassion for her characters caught up in the turbulence of history."-Martin MacInnes, author of In Ascension longlisted for the Booker Prize, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Kairos Prize.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Weight
369 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-915983-55-8 (9781915983558)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Anne Charnock's writing career began in journalism; her reports appeared in New Scientist, The Guardian, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune and Geographical, among others. She was educated at the University of East Anglia, where she studied environmental sciences, and at The Manchester School of Art, where she gained a Masters in Fine Art. As a foreign correspondent she travelled widely in the Middle East, Africa and India, and spent a year overlanding through Egypt, Sudan and Kenya. Anne's debut novel, A Calculated Life, was shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award 2013 and for The 2013 Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award. Her second novel, Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind was included in The Guardian "Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2015." Her third novel, Dreams Before the Start of Time, won the 2018 Arthur C. Clarke Award and was shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association 2017 Award for Best Novel. She now lives on the Isle of Bute in Scotland.