The Loney

"The Loney is not just good, it's great. It's an amazing piece of fiction", Stephen King

Easter 1976. Two teenage brothers, one mute, the other his lifelong protector, set off on a retreat with their parents and others from their church to a Catholic shrine on a wild, ever-changing stretch of Lancashire coastline known as the Loney.

Led by new incumbent Father Bernard, the pilgrims dutifully observe the traditions leading up to the Resurrection, but the boys learn that there is a much older, darker power to be found in the landscape itself, one which is being tapped by strange rituals on the tidal island of Coldbarrow. Many years later, a child's body is discovered, and the two brothers are forced to confront the horrors of the past. The Loney always gives up its secrets, in the end.

Winner of the 2015 Costa First Novel Award; British Book Awards Book of the Year 2016