From acclaimed writer Kathryn Heyman comes a luminously beautiful and personal novel, Circle of Wonders. It is the story of two deaths, but more importantly, it is the story of the legacy of life that flows from them - an uplifting celebratory song to life, and a homage to human resilience.
An extraordinary novel of awe and wonder perfect for readers of Charlotte Wood, Clare Keegan and Sarah Winman.
Roni is running out of time. As cancer claims her body, she begins a Book of Wonders, capturing the small, luminous moments she once overlooked. It's a final gift to the people she loves, and completing it means reckoning with both the flawed life she has lived and the fractured family she's about to leave behind.
Over one charged lunar month, the women closest to her gather: Belle, her daughter, fresh from rehab and trying to stay upright; Anna, her brilliant sister, returning from London with all her old certainties cracking; and Sylvie, her estranged mother, approaching her own death across the mountain ridge. Meanwhile, Roni's ex - the Drone, as she's dubbed him - refuses to leave the house, casting shade on the light Roni is fighting to keep burning.
Extraordinary, luminous and heart-expanding, Circle of Wonders is about facing death while rediscovering life, and about the messy grace that emerges when people who've hurt one another still choose to love.
Praise:
'A precious jewellery box of language, bravely capturing the imperfection of being human and probing the mysteries of what matters most - this courageous novel glitters with wonder itself' Suzie Miller, Prima Facie
'Wondrous. Kathryn Heyman has mined the depths of human frailty and hit a seam of gold. Beautifully written, full of life and love, acceptance and forgiveness. I couldn't put it down' Pip Williams, The Bookbinder of Jericho
'Beautiful and devastating. Luminous with death - and life. Circle of Wonders observes the complicated bonds of friendship and family among women, with a wisdom and tenderness that is deeply observed. It is a novel of wild power that reminds me of Katherine Mansfield and Claire Keegan. I gulped it in a day, then ached that it was over' Nikki Gemmell, Wing
'It is breathtaking, ruthless and healing. Beautiful and profoundly moving and riveting. I think this will be a very important book. And enormously meaningful to many people. What a gift' Jaclyn Moriarty, Gravity is the Thing
'A beautifully observed, funny and tender novel about letting love in, and letting love go' Anna Funder, Wifedom
'The most seriously human book I've read in ages, a novel of deep courage and beauty, a serious act of witness to friendship, complexity, and the everyday wonders that sustain us' Chris Cleave, Little Bee
'A bright flare. Heyman's writing makes us look up and savour life' Chloe Hooper, The Mushroom Tapes
