The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

Brief Description
'A spellbinding debut about friendship, motherhood, first love, and the choices that bind us' CARLEY FORTUNE 'Addictive, nostalgic and comforting, this layered family mystery crept round my heart' CLAIRE DAVERLEY Pen and Alice, childhood best friends from Toronto, are in their first year at the University... Read More
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The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

A charming and scintillating coming-of-age debut novel set in the city of Edinburgh. Perfect for fans of Nora Ephron, Elizabeth Jane Howard and Coco Mellors.

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'A spellbinding debut about friendship, motherhood, first love, and the choices that bind us' CARLEY FORTUNE

'Addictive, nostalgic and comforting, this layered family mystery crept round my heart' CLAIRE DAVERLEY

Pen and Alice, childhood best friends from Toronto, are in their first year at the University of Edinburgh. Each has come to the city for her own reasons.

Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she'll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father's—now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox—lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lennox's centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents' secret, just as she's falling in love for the first time . . .

Meanwhile Alice, an aspiring actor, sees university as her route to the West End and beyond. The star of this year's theatre production, she's making the most of the power she wields as an object of desire—until an affair with her tutor begins to slip from her control.

Witty, warm and wildly unputdownable, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is at once a love story and an irresistible mystery, a celebration of female friendship, and a study of how looking back can help us move forward.

'A book to lose yourself in' FRAN LITTLEWOOD

'Brimming with heart' JENNY JACKSON

'Luminous . . . as smart as it is delicious, as nostalgic as it feels fresh' ASHLEY AUDRAIN

'Joyous, clever, and wholly transportive' KATY HAYS

'Emma Knight's witty, wistful debut will keep you up all night' JOANNA RAKOFF

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529433968

Publisher: Quercus Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 January 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Quercus Publishing

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 232.0mm

Weight: 460g

Pages: 384

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About the Author

Emma Knight is a writer, journalist and entrepreneur based in Toronto. Emma's writing about books, maternal health and more has appeared in Literary Hub, British VOGUE, The Globe and Mail, The Walrus and The International New York Times.

Emma is a co-creator and co-host of the culture podcast, FANFARE and has two cookbooks published by Penguin Random House.

Emma studied Modern Languages at the University of Edinburgh and has an MA in Journalism and an MSc. in International Development from Sciences Po, Paris. While in Paris, Emma worked for The New York Times and the World Association of Newspapers.

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