Hourglass: A 'beautiful, funny, profound' (New Statesman) debut novel about love and loss

Keiran Goddard

Mar 2022 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

A short, exquisite novel about love, loss and making sense of the world - as heartbreakingly moving as it is outrageous and funny

'A universal love story' Guardian

'Beautiful, funny, profound ... read it in one glowing session' New Statesman

'A book for anyone who ever has been or ever will be heartbroken. So that's everyone.' Hollie McNish

Love builds up little by little and that's why it makes people reach for words like root and sediment and other words to do with rocks and trees. But what about the dismantling? Does it happen that way too? Because it feels like it is happening much, much faster. And I am reaching for words like landslide and like wave and like storm ...

Exquisitely crafted, wildly imaginative and as darkly funny as it is moving, Hourglass is a revolutionary love story. It turns time upside down, combs the intimate wreckage of heartbreak for something universal, and asks what it means to lose what you love.

About the author

Keiran Goddard grew up in Shard End, Birmingham in a working-class family. He is the author of one poetry pamphlet, two poetry collections and the novel Hourglass. His debut collection was shortlisted for the Melita Hume Prize, he was the runner up in the William Blake Prize and Hourglass was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott prize. He speaks internationally on issues related to social change and currently develops research on workers' rights, the future of work, automation and trade unionism.