This ABIA award-winning fantasy adventure set in 1980s London follows one girl's quest to find her father, leading her to a secret society of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World when it disastrously intrudes into the modern world.
WINNER: 2021 ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children
Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World - in addition to running several bookshops, of course! Merlin also has a quest of his own: to find the Old World entity who arranged the murder of his mother. Their investigations attract attention from enemies of the Old and New Worlds. Soon they become involved in an even more urgent task to recover the grail that is the source of the left-handed booksellers' power, before it is used to destroy the booksellers and rouse the hordes of the mythic past. As the search for the grail becomes strangely intertwined with both their quests, they start to wonder... Is Susan's long-lost father a bookseller, or something altogether more mysterious?
About the Author
Garth Nix has been a full-time writer since 2001, but has also worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and as a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve.
Industry Reviews
"A warm, whimsical delight--The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a witty, clever adventure in an exquisitely detailed world you will love escaping into."
Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the Carve the Mark series
"This is my favorite kind of tale, one where the magic and the real nest together like pages in a book. A delightful read."
V.E. Schwab, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the Shades of Magic series and the Monsters of Verity series
"Readers will beg for more adventures in this London."
Kirkus Reviews
"Susan Arkshaw - 18, white-blonde buzz cut, Hendrix t-shirt - goes in search of the father she's never met, but things go awry when a hatpin-wielding, gender-fluid bookseller kills the one person who might hold the clue to his whereabouts. Set in London in 1983, this riveting urban fantasy delivers on all fronts: a magical, curious world brimming with nostalgia and references to the author's loves - ancient evil, books, reading, Susan Cooper, Tolkien, London taxis, incidental diversity. This is the book for anyone who has ever said "I don't read fantasy". Nix confirms that booksellers are extraordinary beings with special powers."
Fran Atkinson, Sydney Morning Herald"
