
A Heart Bent Out of Shape
Emylia Hall(Author)
Headline Review (Publisher)
Published on 31. December 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-7553-9087-8 (ISBN)
Description
For Hadley Dunn, life so far has been uneventful - no great loves, no searing losses. But that's before she decides to spend a year studying in the glittering Swiss city of Lausanne, a place that feels alive with promise. Here Hadley meets Kristina, a beautiful but elusive Danish girl, and the two quickly form the strongest of bonds. Yet one November night, as the first snows of winter arrive, tragedy strikes. Hadley, left reeling and guilt-stricken, beings to lean on the only other person to whom she feels close, her American Literature professor Joel Wilson. But as the pair try to uncover the truth of what happened that night, their tentative friendship heads into forbidden territory. And before long a line is irrevocably crossed, everything changes, and two already complicated lives take an even more dangerous course...A Heart Bent Out of Shape is the story of a first love, a terrible tragedy, a snow-filled paradise; a year that will never be forgotten. Praise for Emylia Hall: 'Enchanting and vivid...an amazing debut' Cosmopolitan 'Beautifully nuanced' Spectator 'Fantastically evocative and sun-drenched' Stylist
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7553-9087-8 (9780755390878)
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
Emylia was born in 1978 and grew up in the Devon countryside, the daughter of an English artist and a Hungarian quilt-maker. After studying English & Related Literature at the universities of York and Lausanne, she spent five years working in a London ad agency, before moving to the French Alps. It was there that she began to write. Emylia now lives in Bristol with her husband, the comic-book writer and children's author, Robin Etherington. Her first novel, The Book of Summers, was inspired by childhood holidays in rural Hungary. It was a Richard & Judy pick in 2012 and was later voted the favourite Richard & Judy book of the summer.