The Leviathan: A beguiling tale of superstition, myth and murder from a major new voice in historical fiction

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The book feels incredibly well researched. In your studies, was there anything that surprised you about this period in history? He shakes his head at the memory of the result. “It was horrible, convoluted, all over the place.” But he realised that he had enjoyed the process and soon wrote two further manuscripts before landing an agent and a two-book deal with An Olive Grove in Ends, drafted in three months in 2019, the year he graduated. Going into this book I thought it was going to be a story of witch trials and the hysteria surrounding those events in the 17th century. And whilst it certainly starts out this way, I wasn't prepared for the twists this story took and I was blown away by the way in which the author created such an incredible world and atmosphere, the writing style was so easy to read that I devoured the book in less than a day. I'm so glad I had the chance to read this! Dan Jones on The Wolves of Winter “The Dogs are in a mud-wrestling match with history and they bring some moves all of their own to the party”

Rosie Andrews interview - Bloomsbury Publishing Rosie Andrews interview - Bloomsbury Publishing

So begins a story of witchcraft, betrayal and love, and ends with the Leviathan, a massive sea creature that brings death in it's wake. The Leviathan is a superb historical work of fiction. The author has created an imaginative intelligent, well-crafted story. Darkly compelling and dripping with atmosphere... bewitching’ Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS Firstly the proof copy I received of this was stunning and the finished version (especially with the sprayed edges) is even more amazing!! One of the big influences on this book is Edmund White’s Nocturnes for the King of Naples, which is written with the same narrative framing. Also, Olivia Laing’s Crudo, which was liberating, and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. I love how that book moves between violence and tenderness and how she modulates between a real world and a magical world so effortlessly.

There are also, two wonderful central female characters – and many twists and surprises within this wonderful story which feel all of a piece, not contrived. Not at all. If someone like Sayon sees violence everywhere he looks, perpetrating it is normal. Rather than punishing someone, it makes more sense to rehabilitate them. For most of the story the police are absent: the book isn’t about the punishment other humans can give, it’s about whether God will punish us. In self-governed places, there are often no consequences. I’ve seen people do crazy things and get away with it. It won’t make the news, it won’t make any noise whatsoever. Set among a richly drawn cast in a Jamaican-Somali community in Bristol, it follows the turbulent, often painful childhood and teens of Sayon, a drug dealer trying to keep his crimes secret from the pastor’s daughter he’s in love with. His engrossing first-person narrative, lyrical and slangy by turns, is the vehicle for a tough yet tender story of faith and friendship, as well as money, knife crime and the failings of the British education system. I have always been interested in the significance of dreams. What is our brain trying to tell us, as… I was sceptical near the beginning of the novel, of a few choices made regarding characters, and yet, by the mid-to-end point of the novel, not only were each of these choices justified in a meaningful way, but I felt not a single aspect or minor detail was missed as narrative timelines rejoined. The payoff for which is one of the most satisfying conclusions to a novel I have read this year.

The Leviathan - Rosie Andrews - Google Books The Leviathan - Rosie Andrews - Google Books

Well I was primed by having read and re-read the Brontë sisters’ books, and a number of books about… I did. I got to know a local embalmer, a delightful chap who loved talking about it, about all the funny things, the difficult things, and I said to him: “Can I actually come and watch?” I knew I had to because of that thing about writing; you have to know the smells, the sounds. I’m a bit of a fainter so they put a great big leather armchair in the room so that I could just go over and fall into it if needs be. It was fine. I didn’t faint, I found it very moving; the tenderness and kindness. Very naturally. Everyone’s talking how I talk or how the person next to me talks. If I’m writing for myself, people similar to me will understand. Whoever else can tap into it is an extra blessing. Told from the point of view of Thomas Treadwater it is a story about patriarchy and superstition. At a time when the country was in political turmoil it is easy to see how blaming murder and criminality on women under the umbrella of witchcraft, allowing greater injustice to take place. Thomas is a wonderful character to explore these superstitions of the time as he questions these accusations, whilst remaining open to the idea that there are strange and inexplicable forces operating around him.

As well as being a thrilling tale, The Leviathan is everything great historical fiction should be; beautifully written in prose that is apply reminiscent of the period and full of wonderfully observed details which point to meticulous research. Her humorous novel Lessons in Chemistry is set in California in the early 1960s and centres on one-of-a-kind heroine Elizabeth Zott – chemist, single mum, and reluctant star of a TV cooking show called Supper at Six – and her mission to challenge the status quo. An ex-copywriter, Garmus landed herself a top-tier agent even before she’d finished a draft; the book would take six years to complete, and has since been optioned by Apple TV+, with Brie Larson attached to star. I’ve been working on another novel, set just after the Romans left Britain. If somebody said to me, write about anything in the modern day or in your own fantasy world, I’d be like, OK, where are my constraints? Finding out how I can say something about today with this alien past world is just something that attracts me. AC Bonnie Garmus The story is set in 1643, the story has many layers surrounding the story of Thomas Treadwater who is a veteran returned to war to suspicions of witchcraft all culminating in a darker tale of a hidden sea creature. Dann McDorman on West Heart Kill “In the end, both the detective and the killer must make a choice, whether to act from hate, or from love”