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The Innocents

Francesca Segal author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:10th Jan '13

Should be back in stock very soon

The Innocents cover

A very modern love story which tells the age-old tale of love, temptation, confusion, commitment, and coming to terms with the choices we've made

Adam and Rachel are getting married at last. Childhood sweethearts whose lives and families have been intertwined for years; theirs is set to be the wedding of the year. But then Rachel's cousin Ellie makes an unexpected return to the family fold.

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2012

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013

WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK AWARD 2013

WINNER OF THE SAMI ROHR PRIZE FOR JEWISH LITERATURE 2013



What if everything you’d ever wanted was no longer enough?

Adam and Rachel are getting married at last. Childhood sweethearts whose lives and families have been intertwined for years; theirs is set to be the wedding of the year.

But then Rachel’s cousin Ellie makes an unexpected return to the family fold. Beautiful, reckless and troubled, Ellie represents everything that Adam has tried all his life to avoid – and everything that is missing from his world. As the long-awaited wedding approaches, Adam is torn between duty and temptation, security and freedom, and must make a choice that will break either one heart, or many.

'Wonderful...witty…an astonishingly accomplished debut which will draw comparisons between Segal and Zadie Smith and Monica Ali' Stylist

Delightful… Segal’s writing is wise, witty and observant. -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
Wonderful...witty…an astonishingly accomplished debut which will draw comparisons between Segal and Zadie Smith and Monica Ali. * Stylist *
An impressive debut...the struggle to achieve true adulthood, the loss of innocence and the consequences of adapting to a culture that levies certain expectations on its members, are all cleverly worked into a poised text -- Elizabeth Buchan * Sunday Times *
A subtle, witty and acutely observed study of a narrow but very recognisable world. * The Observer *
Witty and touching... An assured and audacious debut -- Michael Arditti * Daily Mail *
Compelling... Segal writes with an understated elegance -- Lucy Scholes * Observer *
Humourous and touching -- Emam Hagestadt * Independent *
The central story transcends time, reflecting the omnipresence of love and its conflicting web of duty, confusion, temptation and lust. -- Camilla Ter Haar * The Lady *
Stylish, witty, wonderfully moreish -- A.D. Miller
The Innocents is an exuberant, sensitive, witty novel, elegantly written, partly a study of universal dramas of love, marriage and fear, partly a very modern, sassy London story, partly a Jewish novel. I found it irresistible * Simon Sebag Montefiore *

  • Winner of Costa First Novel Award 2013 (UK)
  • Winner of Betty Trask Award 2013 (UK)
  • Long-listed for Womens Prize for Fiction 2013 (UK)

ISBN: 9780099569527

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 27mm

Weight: 307g

448 pages