The Heavens
Published
April 2019
Publishers
UK
Granta
US
Grove Atlantic
Croatia
Vukovic & Runjic
Germany
Matthes & Seitz
Italy
Ponte alle Grazie
Russia
AST Publishers
Serbia
Booka
Sweden
Sekwa
New York, 2000. Kate and Ben meet at a party and fall instantly, irrevocably in love. Around them, the city glows. It is the first year without a war anywhere. A woman runs the White House, and on the streets of Manhattan, strangers say 'Good morning' to one another. Kate falls asleep, knowing she is loved.
London, 1593. Kate wakes as Emilia – the mistress of a nobleman – and finds the plague at her door. Afflicted by premonitions of a burnt and lifeless city, she sets out to save the world. Each decision she makes will change her life with Ben forever.
A story of love and alternate universes, madness and time travel, The Heavens is a dream bound up in a strange awakening; it is a novel of what we have lost, and what we might yet be able to save.
Praise for The Heavens:
‘Heady and elegant… The Heavens is something of a chameleon, a strange and beautiful hybrid. Just when you think you’re standing on firm footing, the ground shifts… Newman, a deft and artful plotter, allows her story lines to spiral and intersect with velocity and grace… I woke from The Heavens as I hope to emerge from any work of fiction: moved and unsettled, a new and intoxicating set of questions alight on the mind’s horizon.’ – New York Times
‘Newman’s genius lies in balancing these timelines and worlds so finely that the whole thing is seamless – not to mention lots of fun. The narrative darts around deftly and the bursts of archaic language are playful and tender… I also want to mention her heartbreaking use of parentheses. Who would have thought that a writer’s use of brackets could reduce a reader to tears?’ – Guardian
London, 1593. Kate wakes as Emilia – the mistress of a nobleman – and finds the plague at her door. Afflicted by premonitions of a burnt and lifeless city, she sets out to save the world. Each decision she makes will change her life with Ben forever.
A story of love and alternate universes, madness and time travel, The Heavens is a dream bound up in a strange awakening; it is a novel of what we have lost, and what we might yet be able to save.
Praise for The Heavens:
‘Heady and elegant… The Heavens is something of a chameleon, a strange and beautiful hybrid. Just when you think you’re standing on firm footing, the ground shifts… Newman, a deft and artful plotter, allows her story lines to spiral and intersect with velocity and grace… I woke from The Heavens as I hope to emerge from any work of fiction: moved and unsettled, a new and intoxicating set of questions alight on the mind’s horizon.’ – New York Times
‘Newman’s genius lies in balancing these timelines and worlds so finely that the whole thing is seamless – not to mention lots of fun. The narrative darts around deftly and the bursts of archaic language are playful and tender… I also want to mention her heartbreaking use of parentheses. Who would have thought that a writer’s use of brackets could reduce a reader to tears?’ – Guardian
