The Pursuit of William Abbey

A hauntingly powerful new novel from the award-winning Claire North - one of the most original voices in modern fiction

South Africa, 1884. William Abbey, an English doctor, watches white colonists lynch a Zulu child. As the boy dies, his mother curses William: wherever he goes, the shadow of her son will follow him. It will never stop, never rest. It can cross oceans and mountains. And if it catches him, the person he loves most in the world will die . . .

But to those in power, William's curse might be a blessing, and as the world slides towards war, William must decide what he's willing to sacrifice in order to survive.

Moving, thought-provoking and utterly gripping, Claire North's extraordinary new novel proves again that she is one of the most original and innovative voices in modern fiction.

About the Author

Claire North is a pseudonym for Catherine Webb, a Carnegie Medal-nominated author whose debut novel was written when she was just fourteen years old. She has fast established herself as one of the most powerful and imaginative voices in modern fiction. Her first book published under the Claire North pen name was The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, which became a word-of-mouth bestseller and was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. The follow-up, Touch, was described by the Independent as 'little short of a masterpiece'.

Her next novel, The Sudden Appearance of Hope, won the 2017 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and The End of the Day was shortlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award. Her latest novel, 84K, received widespread critical acclaim and was described by bestselling author Emily St. John Mandel as 'an eerily plausible dystopian masterpiece'. She lives in London.