The Wreck
A stunning new illustrated novel from the prize-winning author of Alison
Published on 9. April 2026
320 pages
978-1-5299-4437-2 (ISBN)
Description
'Satisfyingly detailed and juicy... an utter treat' Amy Liptrot
'Friendship, love and a gorgeous old house. A beautiful story beautifully told. I loved inhabiting The Wreck' Jessica Stanley
Two couples pursue their dream of communal living in the English countryside - and then it all comes tumbling down
Charlotte and Francesca were best friends at university in the mid-1970s. But tensions coursed beneath their natural affection, deepening when Fran got together with Charlotte's friend Adrian, and the two women drifted apart.
When Fran contacts Charlotte out of the blue with an unusual proposal - an invitation to live with her and Adrian in the rambling house they've bought in the countryside - Charlotte impulsively persuades her partner, Bill, to accept this tantalising promise of a new kind of community.
At first their new life feels utopian; life and space are shared joyfully. But it doesn't take long for old tensions to rise to the surface, shattering their illusions and showing each of them in a new light.
The Wreck is a glorious genre-defying illustrated novel about the messy tangle of love, envy and desire that underpins our most precious relationships, and the difficult paths we must take to discover our true selves.
'I fell hopelessly in love with The Wreck... A beautiful, funny, clever, insightful book' Lisa Owens
'A one-of-a-kind novel. I adored every page of it' Ana Kinsella
'A tender and wise portrait of love and friendship' Chloe Ashby
'Friendship, love and a gorgeous old house. A beautiful story beautifully told. I loved inhabiting The Wreck' Jessica Stanley
Two couples pursue their dream of communal living in the English countryside - and then it all comes tumbling down
Charlotte and Francesca were best friends at university in the mid-1970s. But tensions coursed beneath their natural affection, deepening when Fran got together with Charlotte's friend Adrian, and the two women drifted apart.
When Fran contacts Charlotte out of the blue with an unusual proposal - an invitation to live with her and Adrian in the rambling house they've bought in the countryside - Charlotte impulsively persuades her partner, Bill, to accept this tantalising promise of a new kind of community.
At first their new life feels utopian; life and space are shared joyfully. But it doesn't take long for old tensions to rise to the surface, shattering their illusions and showing each of them in a new light.
The Wreck is a glorious genre-defying illustrated novel about the messy tangle of love, envy and desire that underpins our most precious relationships, and the difficult paths we must take to discover our true selves.
'I fell hopelessly in love with The Wreck... A beautiful, funny, clever, insightful book' Lisa Owens
'A one-of-a-kind novel. I adored every page of it' Ana Kinsella
'A tender and wise portrait of love and friendship' Chloe Ashby
Reviews / Votes
A rich, gorgeous, glorious novel about friendship, love and art. I wanted to live in its pages -- Claire Powell, author of At the Table [A] houseshare horror story... Stewart is brilliant at capturing the glorious intimacies of close friendships as well as their pitfalls -- Killian Fox * Observer *Graphic Novel of the Month* * Glorious... it perfectly captures the disaffection and disappointments of early mid-life... beautifully nuanced... If you think you don't read graphic novels, Lizzy Stewart will make you reconsider. -- Sam Baker * The Shift * 'Satisfyingly detailed and juicy, it's an utter treat and I will be giving a copy to my best friend' -- Amy Liptrot, author of THE OUTRUN A novel I have recently loved to bits. By the inimitable Lizzy Stewart... Friendship, ambition, class, houses, the 1970s - 1990s, love, and coloured illustrations, of course. She's so damn good -- Jessie Burton, author of THE MINIATURIST The Wreck is a completely magnetic piece of work. In her story of two couples, Stewart explores class, desire, friendship, ambition and the endless mysteries of human behaviour with fearless clarity -- Sophie Elmhirst, author of MAURICE AND MARALYN Lizzy Stewart's characters feel to me like friends. I want to have a drink with them, hug them, shake them.... The Wreck is a tender and wise portrait of love and friendship that ponders with an astonishingly light touch big questions to do with who we are and how we live. She's done it again! -- Chloe Ashby, author of SECOND SELF A beautiful, poignant study of friendship as it shifts from light to shade and back again over a lifetime. Lizzy Stewart's characters are so finely drawn that we see and feel their every move. The Wreck is a brilliantly insightful tale of careful manners and caustic undercurrents, all wrapped up in the disheveled tastefulness of the country house. Utterly charming, with a thrillingly critical edge. -- Alex Hyde Friendship, love and a gorgeous old house. A beautiful story beautifully told. I loved inhabiting The Wreck -- Jessica Stanley, author of CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED I fell hopelessly in love with The Wreck. Lizzy Stewart has created the most inviting, appealing world for her endlessly compelling characters, whose charm and flaws kept me glued to their dramas and entanglements throughout, and left me utterly bereft at the end. A beautiful, funny, clever, insightful book about friendship, desire and idealism, that tackles the great universal question of how to live. -- Lisa OwensMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Fixed format
File size
159,15 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-4437-2 (9781529944372)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Lizzy Stewart is an author based in London. She writes and illustrates books for both children and adults. In 2017 her picture book There's a Tiger in the Garden won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and a World Illustration Award. Her debut full-length novel Alison was published in 2022. She teaches Illustration at Goldsmiths, University of London and has also taught courses at the Tate and on behalf of the National Gallery.
