Thirst

Kerry Hudson author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:16th Jul '15

Should be back in stock very soon

Thirst cover

An unconventional, will-they-won't-they love story, that takes us from London to Siberia, and from hope to heartbreak, and back again.

From the prize-winning author of Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma

Winner of the Prix Femina Etranger


London, in the frayed heat of summer.

From the prize-winning author of Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma

Winner of the Prix Femina Etranger


London, in the frayed heat of summer. Alena is shoplifting shoes when Dave catches her in the act and so begins an unlikely relationship between two people with little in common and everything to lose.


But the past is a dark place. And both of them have secrets they’ve no idea how to live with – or leave behind. Yet still they find themselves fighting with all they’ve got for a future together. But is love enough?


'Accomplished... Beautiful... Heart-wrenching' Independent on Sunday

Shortlisted for the Prix Femina Prize

Accomplished…Beautiful…Heart-wrenching * Independent on Sunday *
Accomplished…Beautiful…Heart-wrenching * Independent on Sunday *
A fizzing, breathless love story from a terrifically talented storyteller * The List *
A tender, off-kilter love story… the novel paints a vivid picture of two very different kinds of misfit, falling in love over one dusty, teeming London summer * Observer *
Hudson captures the bustle of life in Hackney and Russia with energy and a sharp eye for detail… [Her characters] have love, guts, humour and conscience. This is Love on the Dole21st-century style -- Louise Welsh * Guardian *
Tremendously affecting... impressively unostentatious in its instinct for a common story within a city of millions that never gets heard -- Claire Allfree * Metro *
An unusual love story... a refreshing change from the plethora of middle-class novel fare that simply holds a mirror to the majority of readers -- John Harding * Daily Mail *
A brilliant, enthralling saga, Thirst presents with such uncommon verisimilitude that scarcely a syllable appears contrived -- Joseph Crilly * Irish Times *
Kerry Hudson has consolidated her position with this second novel as a writer who is prepared to face the injustices and the grimness of life, and tell of lives usually ignored... Thirst is hardly an easy summer read... but it is probably an essential one -- Lesley McDowell * Scotsman *
A classy will-they won't-they romance with a difference... Sheer escapism from start to finish * Bella *

  • Winner of Prix Femina 2015 (UK)
  • Short-listed for European Strega Prize 2016 (UK)

ISBN: 9780099589891

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 21mm

Weight: 234g

336 pages