Haven't They Grown
On sale
10th December 2020
Price: £8.99
***WINNER OF THE 2023 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY***
‘Sophie Hannah, who can twist a conventional plot until it screams for mercy, puts an existential spin on the domestic-suspense novel’ New York Times
‘Fiendishly clever’ Daily Mail
‘Complex and sinister’ Observer
‘A literary high-wire artist’ Sunday Express
‘Prepare for sleep deprivation!’ Red
All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.
Just because she knows that her former best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora Braid for twelve years.
But she can’t resist. She parks outside Flora’s house and watches from across the road as Flora and her children, Thomas and Emily, step out of the car. Except…
There’s something terribly wrong.
Flora looks the same, only older – just as Beth would have expected. It’s the children that are the problem. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily Braid were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt – Beth hears Flora call them by their names – but they haven’t changed at all.
They are no taller, no older.
Why haven’t they grown?
‘Sophie Hannah, who can twist a conventional plot until it screams for mercy, puts an existential spin on the domestic-suspense novel’ New York Times
‘Fiendishly clever’ Daily Mail
‘Complex and sinister’ Observer
‘A literary high-wire artist’ Sunday Express
‘Prepare for sleep deprivation!’ Red
All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.
Just because she knows that her former best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora Braid for twelve years.
But she can’t resist. She parks outside Flora’s house and watches from across the road as Flora and her children, Thomas and Emily, step out of the car. Except…
There’s something terribly wrong.
Flora looks the same, only older – just as Beth would have expected. It’s the children that are the problem. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily Braid were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt – Beth hears Flora call them by their names – but they haven’t changed at all.
They are no taller, no older.
Why haven’t they grown?
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Reviews
Praise for HAVEN'T THEY GROWN
From the impossible premise to its chilling conclusion, Haven't They Grown is a masterpiece in plotting. Hannah's writing is darkly funny and brilliantly observed - I adore her books.
SO clever, so gripping: Hannah asks her readers an impossible question and answers it with style. I tore through Haven't They Grown. Brilliant characters and a corker of an ending. Bravo!
Ingenious... delivers twists and turns at every corner
The twists and turns in this weird psychological thriller are entertaining and a bit creepy at times. You'll finish this book wondering what the hell just happened!...an entertaining read that I would highly recommend
Hannah is in a league of her own... this twist-packed, always surprising thriller will keep you gripped to the satisfying conclusion
Hannah is one of our most courageous crime writers, a literary high-wire artist who sets herself the toughest of challenges in inventing inexplicable mysteries that she must create plausible solutions for... she pulls it off beautifully
Hannah has always excelled at the knotty, impossible twist and Haven't They Grown is as complex and sinister as ever
If you like your mysteries extremely twisty, this could be for you
Hannah is becoming something of a national treasure in the UK . . . The plotting here is more outrageous than usual for Hannah, and might even stretch the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. But few will complain, given her customary rich and nuanced characterisation.
With it's jaw-dropping hook, twisting plot and ingenious conclusion, Haven't They Grown, is a galloping read that will have you rattling through the pages, desperate to solve the mysterious puzzle at its heart
Engaging and dynamic...an interesting story that leads to a dramatic face off
Hannah is becoming something of a national treasure... rich and nuanced
fiendishly clever
Prepare for sleep deprivation!
Sophie Hannah, who can twist a conventional plot until it screams for mercy, puts an existential spin on the domestic-suspense novel