Room of Lost Steps

Simon Tolkien is the author of No Man’s Land, Orders from Berlin, The King of Diamonds, The Inheritance, and Final Witness. He studied modern history at Trinity College, Oxford, and went on to become a London barrister specializing in criminal defense. Simon is the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien and is a director of the Tolkien Estate. In 2022 he was named as series consultant to the Amazon TV series The Rings of Power. He lives with his wife, vintage fashion author Tracy Tolkien, and their two children, Nicholas and Anna, in Southern California. For more information, visit www.simontolkien.com.

“Tolkien’s minute-by-minute accounts of the battles of Jarama and Brunete unfold in harrowing and intimate detail, and his fluid prose captures the conflict’s assorted ideologies and alliances while crafting a very human story of soul-searching and struggle.” —Publishers Weekly“The Room of Lost Steps continues the author’s historical fiction [saga] that blends a continuing coming-of-age story with politically sponsored action and adventure…Highly recommended.” —Midwest Book ReviewPrior Praise for Simon Tolkien“In epic fashion worthy of his namesake, Tolkien crafts a remarkable novel of an American boy swept up by love and circumstance and cast into the crucible of the Spanish Civil War. Intense, vivid, and moving.” —Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and All the Glimmering Stars“[A] delight to read and deserves the success [he] will surely achieve.” —The Washington Post“Simon Tolkien knows how to keep a story moving, and he does it well.” —NPR“Tolkien’s skill as a storyteller is worthy of notice.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer“Written with great surety and absolutely compelling.” —Booklist“Tolkien…proves himself worthy—and then some—of his literary pedigree.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch