The Book of Guilt
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK 2025
Published on 21. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-3998-2364-7 (ISBN)
Description
MORNING, AFTERNOON, NIGHT. THE MOTHERS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING . . .
'Original, dark, clever and compelling' Mary Ann Sieghart, author of The Authority Gap
'This is a compelling and terrifying novel whose alternative history engages chillingly with current possibilities. No one writes children better than Chidgey. She exactly gets their experimental cruelty and related innocence as they attempt to piece their world together' Elizabeth Cook, author of Lux
England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government's Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.
Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams.
Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge.
And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.
All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.
Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a profoundly unnerving exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.
'Original, dark, clever and compelling' Mary Ann Sieghart, author of The Authority Gap
'This is a compelling and terrifying novel whose alternative history engages chillingly with current possibilities. No one writes children better than Chidgey. She exactly gets their experimental cruelty and related innocence as they attempt to piece their world together' Elizabeth Cook, author of Lux
England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government's Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.
Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams.
Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge.
And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.
All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.
Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a profoundly unnerving exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.
Reviews / Votes
A compelling story that raises profound questions not only about the power of the state to dehumanise parts of our society but about our complicity in that power . . . The Book of Guilt is written with insight and brio, deftly balancing darkness and light, depth and pace * Guardian * Compelling . . . brilliantly evokes a dystopian England. Chidgey's luxurious and unhurried prose stokes tension in a compulsive thriller with macabre hints at historical cases of scandalous cover-ups, unprincipled drug trials, eugenics, ethnic cleansing and genetic experimentation . . . Above all the novel is a powerful recreation of an off-kilter Britain at the end of the 1970s . . . it feels scarily momentous * Observer * [A] haunting blend of psychological fable, gothic parable, and slow-burn thriller . . . Chidgey writes with surgical precision and emotional weight . . . The result is a novel of conscience and consequence: quietly devastating, fiercely intelligent and unforgettable * Irish Times * Chidgey conjures a vivid and atmospheric alternative version of Britain in the 1970s. Those who came of age in the era of Spirographs and Stickle Bricks will recognise taspects of this brilliant novel's world . . . The author is clearly interested in nature and nurture, otherness and belonging, and keeps the tension high throughout. If you're anything like me, you will race through this book in a single, breathless sitting * Literary Review * Shocking . . . will make you gasp * Good Housekeeping * This is a compelling and terrifying novel whose alternative history engages chillingly with current possibilities. No one writes children better than Chidgey. She exactly gets their experimental cruelty and related innocence as they attempt to piece their world together -- Elizabeth Cook, author of LUX I raced through Catherine Chidgey's latest in awe of her trademark gifts: propulsive plotting, psychological acuity, and a knack for the uncanny. But it's the novel's moral questions that linger long after reading - about legacy and history, science and fate - as explored through the voices of children whom society has deemed expendable. The Book of Knowledge literally infiltrated my dreams, as it will yours -- Tania James, author of LOOT Original, dark, clever and compelling -- Mary Ann Sieghart, author of THE AUTHORITY GAP 'A future classic from one of the most intriguing, inventive and compelling writers of our time. What a book . . . jaw-droppingly breathtaking' * Radio NZ * Eloquent prose, rich characterizations, and knotty concepts - an emotional and intellectual tour de force . . . Chidgey forces readers to delve into moral questions concerning science, pragmatism, personal responsibility, and institutional evil. Then there's the novel's unavoidable, disquieting contemplation of just who is given equal right in any given society (including ours) * Kirkus Starred Review * What a book! Tense, inventive, mysterious and moving, The Book of Guilt poses big questions in the context of a rocketing plot. I loved it completely -- Karen Joy Fowler, author of BOOTH An imaginative tour de force . . . wonderfully chilling. As ever with Ms Chidgey there are serious issues rumbling beneath, for instance the ethics of scientific research and the arbitrary assumptions about who might and might not possess a soul * Irish Examiner * I was gripped by this dystopic tale of triplets William, Lawrence and Vincent, brought up in a dilapidated institutional home by a group of 'Mothers', treated with a mysterious medicine and forbidden access to the outside world. The uncannily familiar 1970s setting is conjured with uneasy menace * Financial Times, Best Summer Audio Books * Grand and devastating . . . Epically imagined, intricately constructed, conceptually engaging and packed with perfectly timed revelations, it reminded me of Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See and Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch . . . Particularly impressive is the virtuousity with which Chidgey allows the readers to see around Vincent's blinkered worldview . . . This involving, humane novel brims with vitality - and soul * New York Times * This chilling novel's shocking plot turns will make you gasp * Good Housekeeping, Best Books for Christmas * Easily one of my top books, this is eerie, edgy and other-wordly. I didn't know where it was going and yet I needed to turn every page as quickly as possible * Irish Mail on Sunday, Book of the Year *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
N/A
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
284 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3998-2364-7 (9781399823647)
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
Catherine Chidgey is the author of In a Fishbone Church (1998), Golden Deeds (2000), The Transformation (2003), The Wish Child (2016), the 'found novel' The Beat of the Pendulum (2019), Remote Sympathy (2021), Pet (2023), The Axeman's Carnival (2024) and The Book of Guilt (2025). Her novels have been published to international acclaim and have been shortlisted and won numerous prizes. She lives in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Waikato.