Tom Crewe

The Sunday Times Novel of the Year London, 1894. John and Henry have a vision for a new way of life. But as the Oscar Wilde trial ignites public outcry, everything they long for could be under threat.'Beautifully written' Graham Norton'Subtle, sexy and beautifully crafted' Sarah Waters'Lavishly imagined' Sunday Times______________After a lifetime spent navigating his desires, John has finally found a man who returns his feelings. Meanwhile, Henry is convinced that his new unconventional marriage will bring freedom.United by a shared vision, they begin work on a revolutionary book arguing for the legalisation of homosexuality.Before it can be published however, Oscar Wilde is arrested and their daring book threatens to throw them, and all around them, into danger. How high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?______________'A very fine new writer' Kate Atkinson'I loved this book' Zadie Smith'Some of the best writing on desire I've read' Douglas Stuart'A fascinating story, so confidently told, with thoroughly real characters and agonising moral compromises. Brilliant!' Clare Chambers'Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving' Colm TóibínWinner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award Shortlist, Debut Fiction, 2023 Nero Book AwardsShortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Prix du Premier Roman tranger, the Sunday Times Young Writer Award, the Betty Trask Prize, and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature - Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Times (London) - The Sunday Times (London) Novel of the Year - Shortlisted for the 2023 Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction, the Polari Prize, and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction - Selected for Kirkus Reviews's Best Fiction Books of the Year A captivating and "remarkable" (The Boston Globe) debut that "brims with intelligence and insight" (The New York Times), about two marriages, two forbidden love affairs, and the passionate search for social and sexual freedom in late 19th-century London. In the summer of 1894, John Addington and Henry Ellis begin writing a book arguing that homosexuality, which is a crime at the time, is a natural, harmless variation of human sexuality. Though they have never met, John and Henry both live in London with their wives, Catherine and Edith, and in each marriage, there is a third party: John has a lover, a working-class man named Frank, and Edith spends almost as much time with her friend Angelica as she does with Henry. John and Catherine have three grown daughters and a long, settled marriage, over the course of which Catherine has tried to accept her husband's sexuality and her own role in life; Henry and Edith's marriage is intended to be a revolution in itself, an intellectual partnership that dismantles the traditional understanding of what matrimony means. Shortly before the book is to be published, Oscar Wilde is arrested. John and Henry must decide whether to go on, risking social ostracism and imprisonment, or to give up the project for their own safety and the safety of the people they love. A richly detailed, powerful, and visceral novel about love, sex, and the struggle for a better world, The New Life brilliantly asks: "What's worth jeopardizing in the name of progress?" (The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice).

Two Victorian marriages, two dangerous love affairs, one extraordinary partnership . . . 'A very fine new writer' Kate Atkinson 'Electrifying' Anne Enright ______________ After a lifetime spent navigating his desires, John Addington, a married man, has met Frank, a working-class printer. Meanwhile Henry Ellis's wife Edith has fallen in love with a woman - who wants Edith all to herself. When in 1894 John and Henry decide to write a revolutionary book together, intended to challenge convention and the law, they are both caught in relationships stalked by guilt and shame. Yet they share a vision of a better world, one that will expand possibilities for men and women everywhere. Their daring book threatens to throw John and Henry, and all those around them, into danger. How far should they go to win personal freedoms? And how high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living? 'Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving' Colm Toibin

*Shortlist, Debut Fiction, 2023 Nero Book Awards * The Sunday Times Novel of the Year * A Times and Guardian Book of the Year *London, 1894. John and Henry have a vision for a new way of life. But as the Oscar Wilde trial ignites public outcry, everything they long for could be under threat.'Beautifully written' Graham Norton'Clever and kind... A book of wonderful generosity and compassion' Alice Winn'Subtle, sexy and beautifully crafted' Sarah WatersAfter a lifetime spent navigating his desires, John has finally found a man who returns his feelings. Meanwhile, Henry is convinced that his new unconventional marriage will bring freedom.United by a shared vision, they begin work on a revolutionary book arguing for the legalisation of homosexuality.Before it can be published however, Oscar Wilde is arrested and their daring book threatens to throw them, and all around them, into danger. How high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?'Lavishly imagined' Sunday Times'A very fine new writer' Kate Atkinson'I loved this book' Zadie Smith'Some of the best writing on desire I've read' Douglas Stuart'Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving' Colm Tóibín