Lost in the Garden: WINNER OF THE NERO FICTION PRIZE 2024

Like a piece of wisdom passed down through generations which no one questioned or even thought about too hard, it was just something everyone knew, a rule to be followed.

Don’t go to Almanby.

Heather, Rachel and Antonia are going to Almanby.

Heather needs to find her boyfriend who, like so many, went and never came back.

Rachel has a mysterious package to deliver, and her life depends on it.

And Antonia – poor, lovestruck Antonia – just wants to spend the day with Heather.

Off they set through the idyllic yet perilous English countryside, in which nature thrives in abundance and summer lasts forever. The further they travel through ever-shifting geography and strange voices from the radio, the harder it becomes to tell friend from foe.

Creepy, dreamlike, unsettling and unforgettable - you are about to join the privileged few who come to understand exactly why we don't go to Almanby.

“A surprising folk horror about everyday encounters with the incredible. Vulnerable, rooted characters come of age in a hazy, hypnotic book that reflects contemporary Britain through a distorted lens.” Kevin Power, Dr Will Smith & Zoe West – 2024 Nero Fiction Award judges