The New Life

<p><b>TOM CREWE</b> was born in Middlesbrough in 1989. He has a PhD in nineteenth century British history from the University of Cambridge. Since 2015 he has been an editor at the London Review of Books to which he contributes essays on politics art history and fiction.<br><br><i>The New Life</i> is his first novel. Crewe says:<br>'This is the book I knew I wanted to write long before I actually wrote it. I hope it reveals to readers an unfamiliar Victorian England that will surprise and provoke inhabited by a generation in the process of discovering the nature and limits of personal freedom struggling to create a better world as the twentieth century comes into view.'</p> <p><b>Discover Tom Crewe's magnificent debut novel about forbidden desire and the search for freedom in Victorian England...</b><br><br><b>'Beautifully written' Graham Norton<br>'Subtle sexy and beautifully crafted' Sarah Waters<br>'Lavishly imagined' <i>Sunday Times</i></b><br><b>______________</b><br><br>After a lifetime spent navigating his desires John has finally found a man who returns his feelings. Meanwhile Henry is convinced that his new unconventional marriage will bring freedom.<br><br>United by a shared vision they begin work on a revolutionary book arguing for the legalisation of homosexuality.<br><br>Before it can be published however Oscar Wilde is arrested and their daring book threatens to throw them and all around them into danger. How high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?<br><b>______________</b><br><br><b>'A very fine new writer' Kate Atkinson<br>'I loved this book' Zadie Smith<br>'Some of the best writing on desire I've read' Douglas Stuart<br>'Extraordinary' Jonathan Bailey<br>'Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving' Colm Tóibín</b></p> 'Tom Crewe<b> inhabits the minds lives and bodies</b> of his visionary late-nineteenth century characters with almost eerie precision and intensity. The result is <b>subtle sexy and beautifully crafted</b> - a <b>wonderful </b>book' <b>Completely engrossed</b> by this fascinating story of gay life in the London of the 1890’s. <b>Beautifully written </b>with fantastically complicated characters I <b>loved </b>this book '<b>Clever and kind</b> <i>The New Life</i> is a book of <b>wonderful generosity and compassion</b>' <b>It is a pleasure to discover a young novelist with such a wise sensibility</b> - and also one who can construct such convincing characters. <p><i><b>'It was as if this man in front of him were an invisible door and he was paused on the threshold'</b></i><br><br><b>Discover Tom Crewe's magnificent debut novel about desire and the search for freedom in Victorian England . . .</b><br><br>* 'Beautifully crafted' <b><i>Sunday Times</i></b><i> * </i>'Powerful<i>'</i><b><i> Telegraph </i></b><i>* </i>'Virtuoso'<b> <i>Guardian </i></b><i>* </i>'Brims with intelligence and insight' <b><i>New York Times </i></b><i>* </i>'Vivid and erotically charged'<b> <i>Daily Mail </i></b><i>* </i>'A very fine new writer'<b> Kate Atkinson</b><br><br><b>______________</b><br><br><i>London 1894</i>. After a lifetime navigating his desires John married to Catherine has met Frank. Meanwhile Henry's wife Edith has fallen for Angelica.<br><br>A shared vision for the future brings John and Henry together to write a revolutionary book in defiance of convention and the law.<br><br>Their daring book threatens to throw John and Henry and all those around them into danger. How far should they go to win personal freedoms? And how high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?<br><b>______________</b><br><br><b>'Enthralling . . . I'm confident I have read one of the most beautifully crafted lavishly imagined novels of 2023' <i>Sunday Times</i><br><br>'Electrifying' Anne Enright<br><br>'Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving' Colm Tóibín</b></p>