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Unsettled Ground

Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2021

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Unsettled Ground

By: Claire Fuller
Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
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Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021

When you live on the edge of society, it only takes one step to fall between the cracks

Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.

But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother's secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake.

Unsettled Ground is a powerful novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness.
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'Her strongest yet... a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience' THE TIMES

'A relevant and powerful exploration of isolation and life on the fringes of society' CLARE MACKINTOSH, author of Hostage

'An atmospheric thriller that's both heartbreaking and heartwarming' RED

'The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart' ELIZABETH DAY, author of Magpie

© Claire Fuller 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Domestic Thrillers Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Heartfelt Emotionally Gripping Exciting Village
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Critic reviews

Her strongest yet... a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience
Dark, brilliantly observed and ultimately a tale of love winning the day.
An intriguing, moving novel that will make you question assumptions you have about modern life
Superb...deservedly longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction
A moving portrait of a family struggling against time. This book is ultimately about redemption-about the unexpected importance of neighbours, lovers, and friends, and the ways in which we can re-envision our lives for the better
So sharply, so utterly brilliant that I found myself holding my breath while reading it, dazzled by Fuller's mastery and precision.
With sensitivity and intelligence, Fuller unpicks the relentless complexity of the modern world
'The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart'
Fuller is excellent at description, and capturing the twins' awkward interactions with the world. The fate of the illiterate and weak-hearted Jeanie once she loses everything that is safe is particularly unsettling
It's merciless in its observation of casual cruelty and merciful in its observation of casual kindness and family love
All stars
Most relevant
This book is absolutely amazing and I strongly recommend it. The story is completely gripping and for the first time in an audible book I really smiled and really cried. It’s a really original story with excellent characters with whom I was completely involved. The narration is frankly brilliant and I could not fault it. Don’t miss out by not listening to this wonderful book.

Wonderful

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Every story Claire Fuller writes is so different. I couldn’t wait for this to come out and I was not disappointed. The grit of country life, being bottom of the pack, and the brutality of the thoughtless is balanced by the natural kindness of others. I could have been in that caravan or cottage and understood the characters and now it’s finished I will miss it snd their stories.

Brilliant

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This was such a thoughtfully written book, the characters are all so complex and the story is so intelligently told.

I want to read more by this author now.

Beautiful book

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There's no doubting the quality of the writing or the detailed insight into the grindingly difficult lives of the twins in this novel, but there's such rich detail, I felt a voyeur into the lives of Jeanie and Julius, and at times, found that a very uncomfortable place to be.

The setting and the characters made a refreshing change - people on the margins of society and their treatment by others, (accurate, well-judged and rooted in reality) but lots of the plot points were predicable once the premise was evident, and the plot unfolded at a frustratingly slow pace.

I stuck with it, hoping things would move along but completed it, sad that such lives are written about for entertainment.

I experienced a real literary event, but ended up feeling that Jeanie and Julius would have resented my involvement in their lives. It's certainly one to read or listen to only when you're feeling resilient. It felt to me like a modern day Thomas Hardy - set somewhere rural but where getting through life is tough and the main characters are going to suffer one life-changing knock-back after another.

There's nothing uplifting in this story. Frustrations with the characters and the plot endure until the end, but the writer's capacity to describe the lives of the twins truly remarkable.

Left me feeling very conflicted...

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I loved it although at times I was raging at their predicament and at other times crying at the unfairness of life it didn't leave me with a feeling of depression but rather with hopefulness.

A thoughtful and at times achingly sad read

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