The Unwilding

‘Compelling and fine and rich, I devoured it. A writer with great range’ Tessa Hadley, author of After the Funeral

‘Arresting … Kemp’s luminous prose and emotional sensitivity make for a novel rich in psychological insight’ Observer

’[A] powerfully compelling dissection of the creative process’ Guardian

‘Subtle, complex and ambitious … one of the plotlines about a letter causing the eruption of a crisis that echoes down the decades, recalls McEwan’s Atonement’ The Times

‘Exquisitely written, subtle and transporting, The Unwilding is an absorbing exploration of family ties, memory, connection and the power of stories themselves. A beautiful and thought-provoking novel’ Sussie Anie, author of To Fill A Yellow House

‘A sophisticated, emotionally complex novel about loyalty and betrayal, innocence and experience, memory and art … I was gripped’ Edmund Gordon, author of The Invention of Angela Carter

‘Ambitious, immersive … Kemp renders the danger inherent in what we desire with perceptive elegance, drawing out the tensions between child and adult worldviews, and the vulnerabilities of both. What an achievement’ Olivia Sudjic, author of Sympathy

‘Complex and nuanced…Written with consummate poise – I just drank it down, over the course of a day in a deckchair, the perfect definition of summer reading. I adored it’ Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days

‘At the Sicilian holiday house of a famous writer … the youngest daughter watches from the sidelines and many years later is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about her family’ The Times, ‘The best books of 2024’

‘[An] acutely observed study of family, generational wounds and gender roles … Unflinching, magnificent’ Karen Powell, author of Fifteen Wild Decembers

‘Tense and atmospheric and beautifully written – this is a compelling portrait of a family struggling to confront dark truths, and two women daring to find their voice’ Rosie Price, author of What Red Was

Marina Kemp was born in London, where she lives now with her husband and daughter. She studied Classics at Oxford University, and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths.

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