The Paper Palace

Author Miranda Cowley Heller
Narrator Laurel Lefkow
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Publish Date 1 January 1970
Run Time 11 hours and 36 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Sense of place.

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

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LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2022

A PAGE-TURNING SUMMERTIME READ FOR FANS OF WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING AND LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE

On a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the pond below 'The Paper Palace' - her family's holiday home in Cape Cod. As she dives beneath the water she relives the passionate encounter she had the night before, against the side of the house that knows all her darkest secrets, while her husband and mother chatted to their guests inside...

So begins a story that unfolds over twenty-four hours and fifty years, as Elle's shocking betrayal leads her to a life-changing decision - and an ending you won't be able to stop thinking about.

'A deeply emotional love story that follows one day in the life of Elle Bishop as she navigates the unravelling of secrets, lies and a very complex love triangle' REESE WITHERSPOON

'Glorious and gorgeous. I was absolutely immersed and gripped and I'm devastated to have finished it' MARIAN KEYES

'Here is a love triangle that keeps you turning the pages' Rachel Joyce

'Utterly addictive' Rosamund Lupton

'Dry, sharp and with devastating depths plumbed so elegantly' Pandora Sykes

'Smart, atmospheric and seriously juicy' Stylist

'Earthy, intoxicating, shimmering' Sunday Times

© Miranda Cowley Heller 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

A deeply emotional love story that follows one day in the life of Elle Bishop as she navigates the unravelling of secrets, lies and a very complex love triangle

Reese Witherspoon

It’s glorious and gorgeous. I was absolutely immersed and gripped and I’m devastated to have finished it

Marian Keyes

This accomplished family saga is gripping and poetic, capturing the complexity of the human heart

Daily Mirror

A family drama, a forbidden love story, a childhood tragedy, The Paper Palace is a stunning literary debut that will eat you up and leave you reeling – you won’t want it to end

Independent

It’s been ages since I was so absorbed in a contemporary novel. I loved it

Nick Hornby

In rich and sensuous prose, Cowley Heller, cracks open the human heart and exposes her character’s choices: the paths not taken and the devastating consequences. I smelled the old cabins and the backwoods, felt the pond water lapping around my ankles, experienced the love and loss of family. A perceptive and powerful story which will stay with me for a long time

Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

Tightly woven and immediate, The Paper Palace takes us deep into a vivid summer landscape, a family, and a private, longstanding love story, and holds us there from start to finish

Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife and The Female Persuasion

I can’t think of a more brilliant debut than The Paper Palace. Enticing, assured and multi-layered, it introduces a major new voice in American fiction . . . A marvel

Cressida Connolly

Absolutely phenomenal novel – dazzling writing and utterly addictive. Read it

Rosamund Lupton

It felt as if I read The Paper Palace in one go. It was completely immersive, and shocking, and utterly alive. I loved it

Nina Stibbe

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