The Great Unknown

A Novel

By: Peg Kingman

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Hardcover | 20 March 2020 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
336 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.35 x 1.61 x 0.29

Hardcover

$50.75

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What is your name? Where did you come from? And where are you going? In this immersive novel set in 1840s Britain and France, these questions probe at the essence of what it means to be human.

A wet nurse in a lively Scottish household goes by an assumed name but longs to know the identity of her father. A quarryman furtively extricates a remarkable fossil from an island off the Northumberland coast and promptly smuggles it abroad to Paris. A sensational best-selling book that shatters cherished notions about the universe and everything in it triggers widespread argument and speculationâ"but its author's name is a well- guarded secret. Another book, roundly ignored, neatly sets forth in an obscure appendix the principle that will become the centerpiece of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. All these threadsâ"some historical, others fictionalâ"converge and illuminate one another in unexpected ways in the climactic revelations of this brilliant story.

Industry Reviews

[A] richly observed novel of ideas ... [and] an intelligent, deeply felt family saga.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
[B]eautifully wrought, panoramic. Kingman ably pulls together the many threads [in this novel] to paint the portrait of a time when humanity perched on the precipice of great change. Kingman's evocation of a specific time and place, and her depiction of the role that chance, rather than deliberate design, plays both in the natural world and in her characters makes for gratifying storytelling. Kingman masterfully combines history with propulsive drama.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
A gripping literary mystery, a sharp comedy of manners and a satisfying love story. Most important, this genre-straddling historical novel teems with memorable characters and powerful ideas. ... [An] exceptional novel.--Kevin Canfield "San Francisco Chronicle"
Kingman brings together wide-ranging topics and unique characters, creating a fascinating view of a period of intellectual ferment.-- "Library Journal (starred review)"
Kingman's narrative is well grounded in science and history.--K.M. Sandrick "Historical Novel Society"
Wonderfully wry, brilliantly evocative, and dazzling in its depiction of hidden lives and ambitions, this astonishing novel blends an Austenesque wit and psychological insight with a grasp of early evolutionary theories worthy of A. S. Byatt, Patrick O'Brian, or Barry Unsworth. How rare to combine such deep knowledge with such a light touch.--Andrea Barrett, Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Award winner

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