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The Silver Book

By Olivia Laing
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Brief Description
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing is a unique blend of queer love story and true crime thriller set against the backdrop of 1970s cinema, brought to life by the award-winning, bestselling author. It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2800
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Releases 8th September 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "The Silver Book" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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The Silver Book by Olivia Laing is a unique blend of queer love story and true crime thriller set against the backdrop of 1970s cinema, brought to life by the award-winning, bestselling author.

It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini's Casanova. A young—and beautiful—apprentice is just what he needs.

He sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova's Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini's horrifying fable of fascism.

But Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising tensions of Italy's 'Years of Lead', he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn't intend...

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781405982290

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 198g

Pages: 256

Collections

Arts & Culture Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction LGBTQ+ LGBTQ+ Romance Literary Fiction Olivia Laing Penguin Books Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They're the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody and the Sunday Times number one bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing's first novel, Crudo, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction. They are an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and their books have been translated into twenty-one languages.

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