Frances Hardinge – författare

Winner of the Costa Book of the Year'I can't think of anyone who would not love this story' – Matt Haig, author of The Midnight LibraryThe Lie Tree is a wonderfully evocative and atmospheric gothic novel by award-winning author Frances Hardinge. This edition has a beautiful new cover to celebrate the 10th anniversary and an introduction by Kiran Milwood Hargrave.When Faith's father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she stumbles upon a strange tree amongst his belongings. Faith, a gifted liar, is amazed to discover that the tree thrives on untruths - and delivers secrets to those who consume its fruit.Convinced that the tree holds the key to her father's murder, Faith begins to use its powers to try and get to the bottom of the mystery. But webs of lies are far easier made than untangled, and there are truths at the heart of this small island community that are better left buried . . .'Dark, thrilling, utterly original' – Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls

Enthralling children's fiction for everyone who loves Robin Steven's Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries and Frances Hardinge's The Lie Tree.Twelve mysteries.Twelve authors.One challenge: can YOU solve the crimes before the heroes of the stories?These are twelve brand-new short stories from twelve of the best children's crime writers writing today.These creepy, hilarious, brain-boggling, heart-pounding mysteries feature daring, brilliant young detectives, and this anthology is a must for fans of crime fiction and detection, especially the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries, The Roman Mysteries and The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.The Crime Club are twelve UK-based authors who are mad about crime fiction. Clementine Beauvais, Elen Caldecott, Susie Day, Julia Golding, Frances Hardinge, Caroline Lawrence, Helen Moss, Sally Nicholls, Kate Pankhurst, Robin Stevens, Harriet Whitehorn and Katherine Woodfine can be found anywhere there is a mystery to be solved, a puzzle to be cracked or a bun to be eaten, and they are always ready for the next puzzling case.

In the tradition of truly fantastic storytelling, Verdigris Deep is a darkly witty, utterly creepy and clever novel by Frances Hardinge, author of The Lie Tree.Verdigris n. a blue-green rust that tarnishes ageing and forgotten copper coins, altering them entirely . . . One evening, Ryan and his friends steal some coins from a well. Soon after, strange things begin to happen. Peculiar marks burn on Ryan's knuckles and light bulbs mysteriously explode. Then the well witch appears, with her fountains for eyes and gargled demands. From now on the children must serve her – and the wishes rotting at the bottom of her well.'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2017.'A Skinful of Shadows confirms Hardinge's status as one of our finest storytellers. It's rare to find a book which is every bit as intelligent and stylish as it is riveting - I was enthralled' - Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent.Frances Hardinge weaves a dark, otherworldly tale in A Skinful of Shadows, her first book since the Costa Award-winning The Lie Tree.When a creature dies, its spirit can go looking for somewhere to hide. Some people have space inside them, perfect for hiding.Makepeace, a courageous girl with a mysterious past, defends herself nightly from the ghosts which try to possess her. Then a dreadful event causes her to drop her guard for a moment.And now there's a ghost inside her.The spirit is wild, brutish and strong, but it may be her only defence in a time of dark suspicion and fear. As the English Civil War erupts, Makepeace must decide which is worse: possession – or death.

'One of our finest storytellers' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent'Pure magic' M.R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the GiftsFrom Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree comes Deeplight - an underwater adventure as dangerous as the gods themselves . . . The gods of the Myriad were as real as the coastlines and currents, and as merciless as the winds and whirlpools. Then one day they rose up and tore each other apart, killing many hundreds of islanders and changing the Myriad forever. On the jumbled streets of the Island of Lady's Crave live Hark and his best friend Jelt. They are scavengers: living off their wits, diving for relics of the gods, desperate for anything they can sell. But now there is something stirring beneath the waves, calling to someone brave enough to retrieve it. Something valuable. Something dangerous.Nothing is quite as it seems, and when the waves try to claim Jelt, Hark will do anything to save him. Even if it means compromising not just who Jelt is, but what he is . . .

For fans of Leigh Bardugo and Neil Gaiman comes Frances Hardinge’s spectacular gothic novel Unraveller.Welcome to your new fantasy obsession . . .In a world where anyone can create life-destroying curses, only one person has the power to unravel them. Kellen does not fully understand his talent, but uses it to help those who have been cursed, including his ally and closest friend, Nettle. But Kellen himself is cursed, and unless he and Nettle can release him, he is in danger of unravelling everything - and everyone - around him.From Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, Hardinge expertly weaves together mythology and mystery in a richly-detailed world besieged by curses.‘Exquisite . . . sheer perfection’– Liz Hyder, author of The Gifts‘Instantly engrossing, effortlessly clever, and completely magical’ – Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

Winner of the Branford Boase award, Fly By Night is the stunning YA fantasy novel from Frances Hardinge, author of the Costa Award winning The Lie Tree. As the realm struggles to maintain an uneasy peace after years of civil war and tyranny, a twelve-year-old orphan called Mosca Mye and her loyal companion, a cantankerous goose, are about to become the unlikely heroes of a radical revolution.Mosca is on the run, heading for the city of Mandelion. There she finds herself living by her wits among cut-throat highwaymen, spies and smugglers. With peril at every turn, Mosca uncovers a dark plot to terrorize the people of Mandelion, and soon merry mayhem leads to murder . . .Fly By Night has an unforgettable cast of characters and an inspiring message at its heart – sometimes the power of words can change the world.Fly By Night is followed by its thrilling sequel, Twilight Robbery.'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

Twilight Robbery is the extraordinary sequel to the award-winning Fly By Night by Costa winner Frances Hardinge.The city at night is a dangerous place . . . Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent are in trouble again. Escaping disaster by the skin of their teeth, they find refuge in Toll, the strange gateway town where visitors may neither enter nor leave without paying a price. By day, the city is well-mannered and orderly; by night, it's the haunt of rogues and villains. Wherever there's a plot, there's sure to be treachery, and wherever there's treachery, there's sure to be trouble – and where there's trouble, Clent, Mosca and the web-footed apocalypse Saracen the goose can't be far behind. But as past deeds catch up with them and old enemies appear, it looks as if this time there's no way out . . .'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

A Face Like Glass is an astonishing and imaginative novel from the Costa Award winning author of The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge.In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare – wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer, even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show joy, despair or fear – at a price.Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. For Neverfell's emotions are as obvious on her face as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, though entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed . . .'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now.' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

Chosen as one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time, Gullstruck Island is a vibrant and exciting novel, in a beautifully imagined setting, by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award winning author The Lie Tree.On Gullstruck Island the volcanoes quarrel, beetles sing danger and occasionally a Lost is born . . .In the village of the Hollow Beasts live two sisters. Arilou is a Lost - a child with the power to depart her body and mind-fly with the winds – and Hathin is her helper. Together they hide a dangerous secret, until sinister events threaten to uncover it. With a blue-skinned hunter on their trail and a dreadlocked warrior beside them, they must escape, or risk everything. Can the fate of two children decide the future of Gullstruck Island?'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, is a fantastically eerie and beautifully written novel, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak. 'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.' When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out.Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family – before it's too late . . .'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2017.'A Skinful of Shadows confirms Hardinge's status as one of our finest storytellers. It's rare to find a book which is every bit as intelligent and stylish as it is riveting - I was enthralled' - Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent.Frances Hardinge weaves a dark, otherworldly tale in A Skinful of Shadows, her first book since the Costa Award-winning The Lie Tree.When a creature dies, its spirit can go looking for somewhere to hide. Some people have space inside them, perfect for hiding.Makepeace, a courageous girl with a mysterious past, defends herself nightly from the ghosts which try to possess her. Then a dreadful event causes her to drop her guard for a moment.And now there's a ghost inside her.The spirit is wild, brutish and strong, but it may be her only defence in a time of dark suspicion and fear. As the English Civil War erupts, Makepeace must decide which is worse: possession – or death.

Enter a fantastical, underwater world in Deeplight, from Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree.'One of our finest storytellers' – Sarah Perry, author of The Essex SerpentOn the streets of the Island of Lady's Crave live 14-year-old urchins Hark and his best friend Jelt. They are scavengers: diving for relics of the gods, desperate for anything they can sell. But there is something dangerous in the deep waters of the undersea, calling to someone brave enough to retrieve it.When the waves try to claim Jelt, Hark will do anything to save him. Even if it means compromising not just who Jelt is, but what he is . . .

Unraveller is a spell-binding new tale from the Costa-award winning master of YA fantasy Frances Hardinge.In a world where anyone can create a life-destroying curse, only one person has the power to unravel them.Kellen does not fully understand his talent, but helps those transformed maliciously - including Nettle. Recovered from entrapment in bird form, she is now his constant companion, and closest ally.But Kellen has also been cursed, and unless he and Nettle can remove his curse, Kellen is in danger of unravelling everything – and everyone - around him…

Welcome to your new fantasy obsession . . .In a world where anyone can create life-destroying curses, only one person has the power to unravel them. Kellen does not fully understand his talent, but uses it to help those who have been cursed, including his ally and closest friend, Nettle. But Kellen himself is cursed, and unless he and Nettle can release him, he is in danger of unravelling everything - and everyone - around him.For fans of Leigh Bardugo and Neil Gaiman comes Frances Hardinge’s spectacular novel Unraveller. Called her ‘best yet’ by the Guardian, Hardinge expertly weaves together mythology and mystery in a richly-detailed world besieged by curses.‘Exquisite . . . sheer perfection’– Liz Hyder, author of The Gifts‘Instantly engrossing, effortlessly clever, and completely magical’ – Freya Marske

"A grown-up gothic fairy tale" — one of The Guardian's Five Best YA Books 2023"With its silver-sprinkled jacket, this elegiac story . . . is perfect for autumn"Children's Book of the Week – The Sunday TimesThe award-winning, bestselling Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett unite for the first time to conjure up a thrilling fairy tale of ghosts and magic, highly illustrated throughout with a luscious blue ink.On the island of Merlank, the Dead must not be allowed to linger. The very sight of their ghosts can kill you. When young Milo is thrust into the role of Ferryman following his father’s sudden death, he is the one who must carry away the Dead.Pursued by a vengeful lord and two malignant magicians, Milo must navigate strange and perilous seas where untold threats whisper in the mist. Does he have the courage and imagination to complete his urgent mission?From the Costa Book Award-winning Frances Hardinge, author of The Lie Tree and Unraveller, with spectacular illustrations from double Kate Greenaway Medal winner Emily Gravett, this riveting coming-of-age tale will sweep you away on an unforgettable journey.Island of Whispers is a beautiful hardback glittering all over with silver moths, making the most exquisite gift for anyone who loves mysterious fantasy worlds and graphic novels. Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

"A grown-up gothic fairy tale" — one of The Guardian's Five Best YA Books 2023The award-winning, bestselling Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett unite for the first time to conjure up a thrilling fairy tale of ghosts and magic, highly illustrated throughout with a luscious blue ink.On the island of Merlank, the Dead must not be allowed to linger. The very sight of their ghosts can kill you. When young Milo is thrust into the role of Ferryman following his father’s sudden death, he is the one who must carry away the Dead.Pursued by a vengeful lord and two malignant magicians, Milo must navigate strange and perilous seas where untold threats whisper in the mist. Does he have the courage and imagination to complete his urgent mission?From the Costa Book Award-winning Frances Hardinge, author of The Lie Tree and Unraveller, with spectacular illustrations from double Kate Greenaway Medal winner Emily Gravett, this riveting coming-of-age tale will sweep you away on an unforgettable journey.Island of Whispers is a beautiful book that makes the most exquisite gift for anybody who loves mysterious fantasy worlds, and for fans of Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Katherine Rundell.

Discover the brand new spellbinding fantasy from award-winning Frances Hardinge, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Laini Taylor, Ava Reid and Erin Morgenstern. "Wildly inventive worldbuilding, gentle humor, and indomitable, kindhearted characters . . . a joy from start to finish." - Publishers Weekly "Layered and lush; an expertly woven tapestry." - KirkusCastles traded places sometimes. Everyone knew that. It was always something that might happen, except that it never had.Until all of a sudden it did.Far above the valleys and villages of the Kingdom of Thaletal, a Great Game is played. Players move castles around the realm like chess pieces - and the ordinary villagers are mere pawns at the whim of their tactics.When 15-year-old Burr's peaceful village is disrupted by the arrival of an ominous new castle, he decides he's had enough. But what starts as a plucky coup soon escalates - and soon the castle is wrenched away to a far-flung corner of the kingdom, where whispers mount of a mysterious ancient maiden whose magpies collect her debts at dangerous prices.Here, the stakes are higher than the tallest turrets, and every move counts. Burr must work with his sisters and friends - and rely on the unexpected help of a strange and intriguing heiress - to unravel the secrets of the Magpie Maiden and the origins of the Great Game before he becomes just another casualty of the Players' deadly contest.

Castles traded places sometimes. Everyone knew that. It was always something that might happen, except that it never had in that valley, and nobody had really expected that it would. It was one of those unlikelihoods, like finding treasure, or being eaten by a wolf, or having a handsome, powerful stranger turn up to right all your wrongs. It could happen, except it didn't.Until all of a sudden it did.Traitors' Nest is the brand new YA fantasy novel by Frances Hardinge, in which castles in the Kingdom of Thaletal are moved around like chess pieces by enigmatic Players. The story follows 16-year-old Burr, whose village is disrupted by a new castle and Lord. What starts as a small rebellion escalates when the castle is moved, and Burr learns about a mysterious ancient maiden who uses magpies to collect her debts.

Costa Award-winning Frances Hardinge's gripping story of a young girl's daring mission through a natural world intent on her destruction.With stunning two-colour illustrations by superstar illustrator Emily Gravett on every page, The Forest of a Thousand Eyes is richly atmospheric: perfect for fans of David Almond and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.The hungry Forest is moving forward like an army, a green and constant threat to the humans living in and on an increasingly crumbling Wall. Feather, accompanied only by her scaled ferret, Sleek, must avoid the Forest's tentacles, and the many dangerous creatures it shelters, to return the community's precious spyglass to its rightful place. Along the way, she develops her resilience, and meets other people living on the Wall, whose stories and experiences open her mind, and those of her community, to new horizons.From the creators of Island of Whispers, chosen as one of the Top Five YA books of 2023 by The Guardian.A compelling story filled with adventure, emotional intensity and the rawness of nature.

Costa Award-winning Frances Hardinge's gripping story of a young girl's daring mission through a natural world intent on her destruction.With stunning two-colour illustrations by superstar illustrator Emily Gravett on every page, this richly atmospheric book is perfect for fans of David Almond and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.The hungry Forest is moving forward like an army, a green and constant threat to the humans living in and on an increasingly crumbling Wall. Feather, accompanied only by her scaled ferret, Sleek, must avoid the Forest's tentacles, and the many dangerous creatures it shelters, to return the community's precious spyglass to its rightful place. Along the way, she develops her resilience, and meets other people living on the Wall, whose stories and experiences open her mind, and those of her community, to new horizons.From the creators of Island of Whispers, chosen as one of the Top Five YA books of 2023 by The Guardian.A compelling story filled with adventure, emotional intensity and the rawness of nature.

Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2015. Read by actress Emilia Fox, The Lie Tree is a wonderfully evocative and atmospheric novel by Frances Hardinge, award-winning author of Cuckoo Song and Fly By Night.Faith's father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as she is searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. The tree only grows healthy and bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered. The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father's murder, so she begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as her tales spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter . . .