What kind of person keeps a man underground for seven years? And who would agree to be part of such an experiment?
The year is 1792 and Herbert Powyss is set on making his name as a scientist. He is determined to study the effects of prolonged solitude on another human being, though before now Powyss's sole subjects have been the plants in his greenhouse. He fills three rooms beneath Moreham House with books, paintings and even a pianoforte, then puts out an advertisement, hoping for a gentleman recluse to claim the substantial reward.
The only man desperate enough to apply is John Warlow, a semi-literate farm labourer who needs to support his wife Hannah and their six children. Cut off from nature and the turning of the seasons, Warlow soon begins losing his grip on sanity. Above ground, Powyss finds yet another distraction from his greenhouse in the form of Hannah, with whom he rapidly becomes obsessed. Does she return his feelings, or is she just afraid of his power over her family's lives?
Meanwhile, the servants are brewing up a rebellion inspired by recent news from across the Channel. Powyss may have set events in motion, but he is powerless to prevent their explosive and devastating conclusion.
Elegantly told and utterly transporting, The Warlow Experiment is an outstanding literary novel that announces a major new voice in British fiction.
About the Author
Alix Nathan read English and Music at York University. She lives in the Welsh Marches where she owns some ancient woodland with her husband. Her short stories have been published in Ambit, The London Magazine, New Welsh Review and read on BBC Radio 4. Her last two books were published by Parthian Press.
Industry Reviews
Original and gripping ... builds to a satisfying and fittingly macabre climax. -- Antonia Senior * Times *
Rich period detail and grippingly peopled subplots about the era's radical insurgency and reactionary repression add engrossing depth to this compelling tale of a ruinously backfiring experiment. -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *
Original and beautifully written, this is a meaty, gripping novel of obsession gone sour -- Elizabeth Buchan * Daily Mail *
Smart and darkly entertaining -- Jeffrey Burke * Mail on Sunday *
Powerful, imaginative ... convincingly reflects the vernacular of many of the most important characters ... It is Nathan's scrupulous objectivity that enables the complexity of her characters to emerge ... For all the grim logic of its horrifying finale, what distinguished The Warlow Experiment above all is how Nathan ... treats her subjects with unfailing dignity and compassion. -- Paul Binding * Literary Review *
A dark tale of obsession, solitude and the human mind ... brings together vivid characters to explore the vulnerable foundations of sanity, rationality and civilisation. * The Herald *
Terrific * Saga *
Praise for Alix Nathan:
'She cuts against cliche, against the received version, against cosiness. She leaves her reader restless, curious, wanting more. She is an original, with a virtuoso touch.' -- Hilary Mantel
A powerful and unsettling novel, both fascinating and infinitely strange -- Andrew Taylor
Unusual, gripping and emotionally complex - I loved this book. -- Sally Magnusson, author of The Sealwoman's Gift
This is an extraordinary, quite brilliant book. It captures the language and mental framework of the late eighteenth century perfectly, the characters are beautifully drawn people of real depth, and we are shocked and chastened by how easily the scientific rationalism of the "Age of Reason" could turn into appalling cruelty and oppression. We are in the 1790s, and across the Channel the rule of reason has turned into the crunch of the guillotine; in England the Warlow Experiment shows us a less savagely dramatic, smaller-scale, but scarcely less cruel, example of the worship of Reason gone terribly wrong. -- C. J. Sansom
A gripping drama, fueled by the attraction of repulsion ... unique and chilling * New York Times *
Sardonic comedy takes on deeper resonances in a tale, rich in period detail, of a ruinously backfiring experiment. (Finest Fiction of 2019) -- Peter Kemp * The Sunday Times *
Based on a real 18th century experiment, this is a haunting and confining novel ... sumptuous * Irish Times *
