Winner of the Older Fiction category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and of the Branford Boase Award
______‘An extraordinary dystopian novel… compelling and original’ Sunday Times, Book of the Year
‘One of the most vivid, tough, bold and gripping books I’ve read in a long time’ Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures
‘A dazzling fable of oppression and hope’ Financial Times, Books of the Year
_____Life in Bearmouth is one of hard labour, the sunlit world above the mine a distant memory. Reward will come in the next life with the benevolence of the Mayker.
Newt accepts everything – that is, until the mysterious Devlin arrives. Suddenly, Newt starts to look at Bearmouth with a fresh perspective, questioning the system, and setting in motion a chain of events that could destroy their entire world.
Reviews
An extraordinary dystopian novel… compelling and original
Sunday Times, Book of the Year
One of the most vivid, tough, bold and gripping books I’ve read in a long time – and it’s utterly original, the kind of story to carry you away
Katherine Rundell, author of The Good Thieves
Like nothing I have read before… hand-in-mouth gripping… [Hyder] will become a household name and her books a curriculum staple
The Times, Children's Book of the Month
One of the most ambitious and darkly brilliant YA books I’ve read. It’s provocative, tender, claustrophobic and epic. It blew my mind
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink & Stars
Bearmouth is devastating, genre breaking, a book in which the very language changes as the plot progresses. A Jonathan Livingstone Seagull for today. I can’t wait to see what Hyder does next, I will go wherever she takes me
Daisy Johnson
A dazzling fable of oppression and hope
Financial Times, Books of the Year
[Bearmouth] has remained with me since I read it almost a year ago. A strange, uncompromising and innovative novel written in dialect, set in a mine where workers are promised riches in the next life
Guardian, Best Books of 2019
There’s nothing like a dose of darkness and claustrophobia to give a story intensity, and Liz Hyder’s excellent fantasy debut has plenty of both
Guardian
A mighty impressive piece of work… compelling, powerful and utterly unique
Brian Conaghan, winner of the Costa Children's Book Award
An accomplished, intelligent, gripping, and unforgettable debut… once you start reading you will not be able to put it down
M. G. Leonard, author of Beetle Boy
A stunningly written, raw, wholly original, darkly beautiful triumph
Lauren St John, author of The White Giraffe
My top pick for ages 12 upwards… a remarkable debut… as good as anything by Joan Aiken
New Statesman
Liz Hyder is a writer of true courage
David Almond
A bold, arresting first book
Observer
Excellent… Young teens and upwards will find much to enjoy in this book
Literary Review
Exciting, ambitious and completely unpredictable: the kind of book to read in one sitting, quite breathless
BookTrust
As vivid, original and distinctive as it gets… shocking and haunting, but moving and uplifting too. I was gripped from the first page – and I’ve never read a book like it
Telegraph and Argus
An ambitious, memorable debut
Bookseller, Ones to Watch
A hugely atmospheric read… a page-turner for sure
John McLay, Artistic Director, Bath Children's Literature Festival
A great achievement – deeply moving, original, profound
Chloe Dunbar, Director at Ways with Words and Head of Development at Hera Pictures
It’s going to be huge, and deservedly so. It will stop you in your tracks. It will grip you, bewitch you, haunt you
Nicholas Pegg
The most memorable, different and stunning YA book I’ve read
Katy Moran
Darkly brilliant…I was totally immersed
Gill Lewis, author of Sky Hawk
A brilliant and thought-provoking piece of writing that you will not be able to put down
Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
