Now We Shall Be Entirely Free

Book cover of Now We Shall Be Entirely Free

Book description

* WINNER OF THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE *

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE *

The rapturously acclaimed new novel by the Costa Award-winning author of PURE, hailed as 'excellent', 'gripping', 'as suspenseful as any thriller', 'engrossing', 'moving' and 'magnificent'.

One rainswept winter's night in 1809, an unconscious man…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Now We Shall Be Entirely Free as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tom Pugh

Author

Andrew Miller doesn’t do conventional heroes. In his most recent novel, Now We Shall Be Entirely Free (set during the Napoleonic Wars), two soldiers are given the task of finding a suspected war criminal.

On the subsequent manhunt from Portsmouth to the west coast of Scotland, my expectations were repeatedly – and gloriously – upended.

The pursued doesn’t know he’s being pursued. It isn’t even clear if he’s guilty. The question is both pressing and increasingly irrelevant, except as a matter for his conscience and as a matter of public relations for the British army.

More than anything, it’s this…

From Tom's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Alison L. McLennan

Author

This novel takes place during the Napoleon Wars.

The guilty conscience, PTSD, and war crimes of a British Captain drive him to seek tranquility in the Scottish Hebrides. Before reading this novel, I knew little about this time period and had never heard of the Scottish Hebrides.

The author transported me to the Hebrides so accurately that when I looked up pictures after finishing the novel they were the exact replicas of those in my imagination.

This novel has an existential heart yet is plot-driven and action-packed with romance and even moments of humor. The flow of prose and the…

From Alison's list on existential and experimental historical fiction.