100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Enjoy overnight NZ-wide delivery from our NZ-owned independent bookstore! 🎉

High and Low

'The most mischievous take imaginable on the way we live now' Francis Spufford
Brief Description
In the worst day of the year, and on the twelfth day of Christmas, a group of people come under siege in Cross St, North London. A gang is hunting for a child who has been drawn into crime with tragic results; there is a riot... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of High and Low. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In the worst day of the year, and on the twelfth day of Christmas, a group of people come under siege in Cross St, North London.

A gang is hunting for a child who has been drawn into crime with tragic results; there is a riot outside the church where asylum seekers have been sleeping, and many cities have descended into fierce protests.

Inside the Literary Cafe, a group of writers, bakers and shopkeepers are sheltering. Their petty feuds and past quarrels must be forgotten if they are to survive a gang armed with knives and a gun.

Over a few hours, the divisions between high and low, old and new, haves and have-nots are thrown into violent contrast. Are they going to try to save themselves, or each other?

High and Low by Amanda Craig takes you through this gripping narrative, testing the boundaries of human nature and societal divides.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781408714713

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 May 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Abacus

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 41g

Pages: 336

About the Author

Amanda Craig is a British novelist, short-story writer and critic. After a brief time in advertising and PR, she became a journalist for newspapers such as the Sunday Times, Observer, Daily Telegraph and Independent, winning both the Young Journalist of the Year and the Catherine Pakenham Award. Her novels Hearts and Minds and The Golden Rule were both longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and The Lie of the Land was chosen as book of the year by the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, New Statesman, Evening Standard, Sunday Times and Irish Times.

Also by Amanda Craig

View all
  • In a Dark Wood
    Thirty-nine, divorced, jobless: Benedick Hunter is going nowhere, heading in the exact opposite direction he expected. So when he comes across a children's book that his mother, Laura, wrote, he decides that her life and work—haunting stories replete with sinister woods, wicked witches, and brave girls who battle giants—hold the key to finding out why his own life is such...
    Paperback
    $11800
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Foreign Bodies
    At eighteen, Emma Kenward runs away from her dull Sloane home to try her luck as a painter in Tuscany. Waspish, idealistic, and far too clever for her own good, she is at the awkward age when women choose their futures—and their identities. Once in Italy, Emma blossoms and is taken up by a mixture of characters, including the local...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Three Graces
    'A brilliant piece of storytelling that revels in the world of expat old ladies in Tuscany, and should be the book that everybody's reading this summer' — Andrew O'Hagan 'In the Tuscan hilltop village of Santorno, the setting for Amanda Craig's entertaining and bracing new novel, the Three Graces of her title are preparing for a spring wedding. Adorning this...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Golden Rule
    'A highly enjoyable story about female resilience... with a twist that is all the more compelling for its unexpectedness' Sunday Times 'She's such a skilful storyteller, who vividly dramatizes our lives with wit, wisdom and compassion' Bernardine Evaristo 'Amanda Craig anatomises the state of the nation with wit and empathy' Jonathan Coe 'An irresistible summer read' Guardian A typically sharp...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Vicious Circle
    This gripping, moving and hilarious novel introduces seven characters, each of whom has a profound effect on each other's lives. Each must choose between probity and self-interest in love and work. Some compromise themselves completely; others oscillate between vice and virtue. Others are redeemed by twists of fate. For in a vicious circle, nothing is certain except change. For five...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Private Place
    A Private Place is set at Knotshead, a school catering to the children of the rich, famous, liberal, and deluded. With its progressive curriculum, complacent staff, and beautiful grounds, it looks like Paradise. However, the clever, the odd, and the bookish are relentlessly persecuted as pupils make their own rules in a bubble of privilege and prejudice. When Alice, the...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Hearts And Minds
    Rich or poor, five people, seemingly very different, find their lives in the capital connected in undreamed-of ways. There is Job, the illegal mini-cab driver whose wife in Zimbabwe no longer answers his letters; Ian, the idealistic supply teacher in exile from South Africa; Katie from New York, jilted and miserable as a dogsbody at a political magazine, and fifteen-year-old...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Love In Idleness
    When Polly and Theo Noble book the Casa Luna, near Cortona, for their summer holiday, they plan a civilised Anglo-American house-party with Theo's brother Daniel, Daniel's girlfriend Ellen, and Polly's old schoolfriend Hemani in an idyllic Tuscan setting. Their children Tania and Robbie will have Hemani's son, Bron, to play with, and Theo's mother, Betty, is expected to keep her...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Lie of the Land
    'A very good read indeed' - MATT HAIG 'Terrific, page-turning, slyly funny' - INDIA KNIGHT 'As satisfying a novel as I have read in years' - SARAH PERRY 'One of the most brilliant and entertaining novelists' - ALISON LURIE The Lie of the Land follows Quentin and Lottie Bredin, a modern couple unable to afford a divorce. Having lost their...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.