Alys, Always - Softcover

"Highly entertaining... Howards End meets All About Eve... A breezy, lacerating first novel."--Jonathan Dee "New York Times Book Review (cover review) "

"A taut debut."--Susannah Meadows "The New York Times "

"Harriet Lane writes with style, wrapping her suspenseful debut in lovely bits of gently creepy description, as well as delicious social critique... a fast, sharp read."--Mindy Farabee "Boston Globe "

"A deft and lively brain-twist of a thriller for which the only word that seems apropos is 'spellbinding.'"--Julia Keller "Chicago Tribune "

"Mesmerizing... a slow-burning psychological novel that unsettles and satisfies in equal, tantalizing measure--a literary All About Eve that stands testament to the old saying that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."--Lucy Scholes "The Daily Beast "

"Fabulous... I gobbled it up in one furtive sitting. It's crafted with the merciless but accurate observations and the lean elegance you find in Anita Brookner at her best... Like its narrator, Alys, Always is unforgettable"--Deirdre Donohue "USA TODAY "

"Controlled and precise, Lane's writing bewitches with its undertones of implied meanings and carefully hidden secrets. This is a gem."--Kirkus (starred review)

"Lane's wry debut delves into the political machinations of London's literary scene."--Publishers Weekly

"This novel begins with a bang and delivers all sorts of surprises, but manages some accute and moving observations.. .A very fine debut. Lane works out her dramatic premise with great originality."--The Times (UK)

"Wonderfully observed...This is a gripping, psychologically complex achievement, whose greatest success is its lingering sense of unease."--The Telegraph (UK)

From the author of Her, a suspenseful, assured literary debut that explores the dark side of desire and ambition through one woman's unlikely entry into an elite world and a destiny of her own design.

On a bitter winter's night, Frances Thorpe comes upon the aftermath of a car crash and, while comforting the dying driver, Alys Kyte, hears her final words. The wife of a celebrated novelist, Alys moved in rarefied circles, and when Frances agrees to meet the bereaved family, she glimpses a world entirely foreign to her: cultured, wealthy, and privileged. While slowly forging a friendship with Alys’s carelessly charismatic daughter, Frances finds her own life takes a dramatic turn, propelling her from an anonymous existence as an assistant editor for the books section of a newspaper to the dizzying heights of literary society.

With her unforgettable protagonist, author Harriet Lane draws readers into a tightly paced tale that careens towards an audacious ending. Transfixing, insightful, and unsettling,Alys, Always drops us into the mind of an enigmatic young woman whose perspective on a glamorous world also shines a light on those on the outside who would risk all to become part of it.