{"product_id":"the-swimmers-isbn-9781789094213","title":"The Swimmers","description":"\u003cb\u003eA claustrophobic, literary dystopia set in the hot, luscious landscape of Andalusia from the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Key\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A richly imagined eco-gothic tale.” – \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Exquisitely realised.” – \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAfter the ravages of the Green Winter, Earth is a place of deep jungles and monstrous animals. The last of the human race is divided into surface dwellers and the people who live in the Upper Settlement, a ring perched at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBearing witness to this divided planet is Pearl, a young techie with a thread of \u003ci\u003eshuvani\u003c\/i\u003e blood, who lives in the isolated forests of Gobari, navigating her mad mother and the strange blue light in the sky. But Pearl’s stepfather promises her to a starborn called Arlo, and the world Pearl thought she knew will never be the same again. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eSet in the luscious landscape of Andalusia, this claustrophobic, dystopian reimagining of\u003ci\u003e Wide Sargasso Sea\u003c\/i\u003e is a literary fever dream, a blazing vision of self-destruction and transformation.\u003cbr\u003e Praise for \u003ci\u003eThe Swimmers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A meticulously detailed  novel set in a vivid, believable eco-dystopia... Womack draws in readers immediately with her dreamy depictions of the landscape and its dangers. At its heart, however, the novel is a probing examination of cultural and class differences. Readers will be captivated.\" – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A richly imagined eco-gothic tale.” – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Exquisitely realised.” – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times,\u003c\/i\u003e 10 Best SF Books of 2021\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor \u003ci\u003eAnnihilation\u003c\/i\u003e fans, the prose is fluid \u0026amp; gorgeously intimate. The questions of our future—a sea of plastic\/the intersection of class \u0026amp; climate change—are explored on a tender, personal scale. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eG.V. Anderson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWomack has an eye for both the beauty and the horror of the natural world. Like a strange fever dream, the world of \u003ci\u003eThe Swimmers\u003c\/i\u003e is uncanny and unfamiliar, wonderfully compelling and utterly inescapable. One of my favourite books of the year. \u003cb\u003eHelen Marshall\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJane Eyre\u003c\/i\u003e meets \u003ci\u003eAnnihilation\u003c\/i\u003e in this ingenious, bewitching novel. The prose is as lush and terrifying as the warped jungle Earth has become. This is speculative fiction at its best: thought-provoking, riveting, and gorgeously told. \u003cb\u003eJennie Melamed\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWomack is an exciting and endlessly inventive writer. I look forward to reading everything she writes. \u003cb\u003eNaomi Booth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWomack is a wonderful writer, and \u003ci\u003eThe Swimmers\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvellous, heartbreaking exploration of the world we are busy creating, and the world we must then inhabit. \u003cb\u003eAliya Whiteley\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Key\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith hints of the brooding Gothic of \u003ci\u003eRawblood\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRebecca, \u003c\/i\u003ethis wonderfully creepy historical novel makes it absolutely clear that Marian Womack is a rising star. \u003cb\u003eTim Major\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn intriguing and unsettling tale. . . Womack brings a great sense of the uncanny to the Fens. \u003cb\u003eAlison Littlewood\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Golden Key\u003c\/i\u003e mesmerizes… A beguiling mystery that lingers long after reading. \u003cb\u003eKatherine Stansfield\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA fey, unsettling vision of Norfolk, and London, that fans of \u003ci\u003eThe Essex Serpent\u003c\/i\u003e will love... This book gives up its secrets like a puzzle box. \u003cb\u003eG.V. Anderson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003efascinating, unsettling tale that shifts, mutates and changes meaning much like the eerie ruined house in the fens at the centre of this weird and brilliant debut novel. \u003cb\u003eLisa Tuttle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eLost Objects\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Intriguing and illuminating… chockfull of interesting ideas about the natural world and ourselves. \u003cb\u003eJeff VanderMeer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarian Womack weaves together the lyricism of Angela Carter, the mad imagination of China Miéville, and the earthiness of Robert Macfarlane. \u003cb\u003eHelen Marshall\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLuminous and disturbing as the unearthly things they describe, Marian Womack’s gorgeously written tales map the shifting boundaries between waking life and dream, past and future and our own profoundly unsettled present. Reading them left me with goosebumps, and the craving for more stories by this supremely gifted new writer. \u003cb\u003eElizabeth Hand\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarian Womack\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Key \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Swimmers,\u003c\/i\u003e was born in Andalusia and educated in the UK. Her debut short story collection, \u003ci\u003eLost Objects \u003c\/i\u003e(Luna Press, 2018) was shortlisted for two BSFA awards and one BFS award. She is a graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, and she holds degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities. She writes at the intersection between weird and gothic fiction, and her stories normally deal with strange landscapes, ghostly encounters, or uncanny transformations. Marian lives in Cambridge, at the edge of the Fens, with her husband, their children and two aging Spanish cats. When she is not writing she can be found working as an academic librarian, or editing books and pamphlets in her indie publishing project, Calque Press.","brand":"Titan Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302657544421,"sku":"NP9781789094213","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781789094213.jpg?v=1767741755","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-swimmers-isbn-9781789094213","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}