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The New Life

Winner of The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2024

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The New Life

Written by: Tom Crewe
Narrated by: Freddie Fox
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Brought to you by Penguin.

*Shortlist, Debut Fiction, 2023 Nero Book Awards *

London, 1894. John and Henry have a vision for a new way of life. But as the Oscar Wilde trial ignites public outcry, everything they long for could be under threat.

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.

United by a shared vision, they begin work on a revolutionary book arguing for the legalisation of homosexuality.

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?

*** This audiobook includes an exclusive conversation between Freddie Fox and Tom Crewe ***

'A very fine new writer' Kate Atkinson

'Electrifying' Anne Enright

'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

© Tom Crewe 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

 Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction
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Critic Reviews

I loved this book (Zadie Smith)
'Tom Crewe inhabits the minds, lives and bodies of his visionary late-nineteenth century characters with almost eerie precision and intensity. The result is subtle, sexy and beautifully crafted - a wonderful book'
'Clever and kind, The New Life is a book of wonderful generosity and compassion'
Crewe is a stunning writer, one of great deliberate precision and clarity... I could not recommend this book more (Pandora Sykes)
It is a pleasure to discover a young novelist with such a wise sensibility - and also, one who can construct such convincing characters.
This is a corker... one of the literary debuts of the year
'Extraordinary in its depiction of reform and liberalism in Britain in the late-1800s'
The New Life is filled with nuance and tenderness, steeped in the atmosphere of late nineteenth century London, a world on the brink of social and sexual change. Tom Crewe's brilliant novel dramatizes the relationship between the visionary and the brave, charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving. (Colm Tóibín)
'A beautifully written debut set in Victorian London... some of the best writing on desire I've read'
[Tom Crewe is] a very fine new writer (Kate Atkinson)
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