The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

SELECTED FOR BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB

SELECTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK CLUB

A flooded world. A floating circus. Two women in search of a home.

North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper.

A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them.

'Highly original ... set in a haunting sea-world both familiar and mysterious' - Ursula K. Le Guin

Logan has a uniquely light touch on the theme of fluidity of gender and, above all, it all seems driven by humanity. This is a delicious piece of work from a supremely talented young writer.  - Ashley Davies, The Scotsman

The circus, the exploration of gender and outward appearance and the touches of magic realism allow for easy comparisons with the work of Angela Carter. Ideas about climate change and the hint of dystopia lead to a mention of Margaret Atwood. But The Gracekeepers is more that the sum of those two writers; Kirsty Logan is a talent of her own, a very special writer indeed and I love spending time in the worlds she creates. I can’t wait to see where she’ll take me next. – The Writes of Women