Invisible in a Bright Light

An imaginative novel with a suspenseful challenge and a vivid backstage world of intrigue and romance... Original and rich Sunday Times Book of the Week.

From I, Coriander to Invisible in a Bright Light, Sally Gardner's first middle grade novel in 14 years soars with the imagination of a master storyteller. A pitch-perfect story about a crystal chandelier that splinters into a thousand pieces, a girl abandoned as a baby on the steps of an opera house, and a dangerous game called the Reckoning.

It is 1870: opening night at the Royal Opera House in a freezing city by the sea, where a huge crystal chandelier in the shape of a galleon sparkles magically with the light of 750 candles.

Celeste, a theatre rat, wakes up in a costume basket from what she hopes is a bad dream, to find that everyone at the theatre where she works thinks she is someone else.

When the chandelier falls, she is haunted by a strange girl who claims to know Celeste's past and why she must risk playing a game called the Reckoning to try to save the people she loves.

This is a classic Gardner modern fairy tale, full of fabulous locations and mesmerising characters. It's a complicated, layered history tale... but do not underestimate this age group's intelligence and focus; young book lovers will be as delighted as they are challenged' Big Issue, Books of the Year 2019.