Little Egypt

Winner 2014 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize

Longlisted: International Dublin Literary Award 2016

Sunday Herald Book of the Year 2014

Elderly, Egypt-mad twins Isis and Osiris find their neglected English lives disturbed to catastrophic effect by the arrival of American Anarchist, Spike

New from Lesley Glaister, winner of the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Yorkshire Post Author of the Year prizes

'This tale of imprisonment and neglect explores our passion for nostalgia, with hints of Dodie Smith's darker side. An excellent read that pulls at the heart as well as the head.' —Victoria Clark, The Lady

'Eerily atmospheric Little Egypt, made me shudder; certain passages were read through half-closed eyes, the way you watch grisly scenes in a film – desperate to know what happens, but not wanting to disturbing images imprinted on your mind.' —Rosemary Goring, The Herald

Little Egypt was once a well-to-do country house in the north of England. Now it's derelict and trapped on a small island of land between a railway, a dual carriageway and a superstore, and although it looks deserted it isn't. Nonagenarian twins, Isis and Osiris, still live in the home they were born in, and from which in the 1920s their obsessive Egyptologist parents left them to search for the fabled tomb of Herihor – a search from which they never returned. Isis and Osiris have stayed in the house, guarding a terrible secret, for all their long lives until chance meeting between Isis and young American anarchist Spike, sparks an unlikely friendship and proves a catalyst for change.

'I was gripped by the story from start to finish, finding it a perturbing, poignant and, in places, a darkly humorous read.' —Amazon.co.uk

This enormously accomplished novel took twenty years to come to fruition: it is well worth the wait – buy your copy now.