'. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women' Sabaa Tahir
'An incredibly important and empowering read' Natasha Ngan
_____________________________________________
THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE.
No one speaks of the grace year.
It's forbidden.
We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilisation.
But I don't feel powerful.
I don't feel magical.
Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky.
It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it...
A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life.
'Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving' Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate & Other Filters
'A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel . . . I couldn't stop reading' Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty
- Book Day 2025
- Earth Day
- English Language Day
- 2025 UK Summer Reading Challenge
- British Science Fiction Association awards
- Book of the Year
- International Booker Prize
- 2025 Women's Prize for Nonfiction
- The Arthur C. Clarke Award
- Uplifting Reads to Kickstart Your Year
- Bestsellers of 2024
- Nero Book Awards
- Great Reads from Around the World
- See all ebooks collections
- World Cancer Day
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science
- Magazines
- World Photography Day
- See all magazines collections