The Stonehenge Letters

"Just when you think there's nothing new to be done with the novel, along comes a book that pushes the form in a fresh direction."-John Harding, author of Florence and Giles

"[Karlinsky] weaves together the actual and the imaginary with consummate skill. Knowing that it is a fiction makes me want it even more to be true."- The Scotsman

While carrying out historical investigations at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, a psychiatrist makes an unusual discovery. Among the unsolicited self-nominations in the museum's "Crackpot" file, there are eight letters addressed to Mr. Ragnar Solman, executor of Alfred Nobel's will. Remarkably, each is crafted by a different Nobel laureate-including Rudyard Kipling and Marie Curie-and each is an explanation of why and how Stonehenge was constructed. Diligent research eventually uncovers that Alfred Nobel, intrigued by a young woman's obsession with the mysterious landmark, added a secret codicil to his will, "a prize-reserved exclusively for Nobel laureates-was to be awarded to the person who solves the mystery of Stonehenge."

Weaving together a wealth of primary documents-photos, letters, wills-The Stonehenge Letters acts as an archive of a fascinating secret competition, complete with strange but illuminating submissions and a contentious prize-awarding process.

Harry Karlinsky is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. His first novel, The Evolution of Inanimate Objects (HarperCollins UK), was longlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize.