The Wolf in the Attic

Paul Kearney

May 2016 · Solaris

About this eBook

1920s OXFORD: HOME TO C.S. LEWIS, J.R.R. TOLKIEN... AND ANNA FRANCIS, A YOUNG GREEK REFUGEE LOOKING TO ESCAPE THE GRIM REALITY OF HER NEW LIFE. THE NIGHT THEY CROSS PATHS, NONE SUSPECT THE FANTASTIC WORLD AT WORK AROUND THEM.

Anna Francis lives in a tall old house with her father and her doll Penelope. She is a refugee, a piece of flotsam washed up in England by the tides of the Great War and the chaos that trailed in its wake. Once upon a time, she had a mother and a brother, and they all lived together in the most beautiful city in the world, by the shores of Homer’s wine-dark sea.

But that is all gone now, and only to her doll does she ever speak of it, because her father cannot bear to hear. She sits in the shadows of the tall house and watches the rain on the windows, creating worlds for herself to fill out the loneliness. The house becomes her own little kingdom, an island full of dreams and half-forgotten memories. And then one winter day, she finds an interloper in the topmost, dustiest attic of the house. A boy named Luca with yellow eyes, who is as alone in the world as she is.

That day, she’ll lose everything in her life, and find the only real friend she may ever know.

Ratings and reviews

This book is an absolute pleasure to read. So much so that I read it all in a night. It sings a dark, fecund song of ages past and weaves together the old world and the new. It is also a memory of loss and displacement in the wake of war. Best book I've read all year.

A breathtaking ride. Real or unreal, good or evil have never twisted so fast or so brillantly. Utterly satisfying...or is it?

Greatly enjoyable and very well written. Also gripping to the last page. Nothing humdrum about this!

About the author

Paul Kearney was born in Northern Ireland. He studied Old Norse, Middle English and Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, and subsequently lived for several years in both Denmark and the United States. At present he and his family live by the sea in County Down. www.paulkearneyonline.com