Compelling debut novel puts spotlight on migration, climate change, genetics, science vs religion

“Gracefully written... a brave and moving adventure of the imagination.”
Lindsay Clarke, author of The Chymical Wedding

“A monument to the timelessness of human nature, a work of art...a masterpiece of pacing,”
New Orbit literary magazine

“Opening up new worlds... what powerful fiction does best. Like the essence of Sapiens, seen through the eyes of two fierce an admirable women.” Zero Filter Books

BONE LINES
Love is Evolutionary
by
Stephanie Bretherton

Out 19th September from Unbound
pb GBP10.99, e-book GBP3.99(Available to pre-order from major online retailers from Sept 1st)

A distinctive new voice in literary speculative fiction

Bone Lines is the genre-fluid fiction debut by Stephanie Bretherton, out from Unbound in September – a *fascinating* and *highly enjoyable* book with a pair of *courageous women at its heart* in a *compelling* 80,000 word dual narrative.

(*extracted from various advanced comments and reviews, available on request.)

Bone Lines Cover Blurb: A young woman walks alone through a barren landscape in a time before history, a time of cataclysmic natural change. She is cold, hungry and with child but not without hope or resources. A skilful hunter, she draws on her intuitive understanding of how to stay alive… and knows that she must survive.

In present-day London, geneticist Dr Eloise Kluft wrestles with an ancient conundrum as she unravels the secrets of a momentous archaeological find. She is working at the forefront of contemporary science but is caught in the lonely time-lock of her own emotional past.

Bone Lines is the story of two women, separated by millennia yet bound by the web of life. A tale of love and survival – of courage and the quest for wisdom – it explores the nature of our species and asks what lies at the heart of being human.

Although partly set during a crucial era of human history 74,000 years ago, Bones Lines is very much a book for our times. Dealing with themes from genetics, climate change and migration to loneliness, the yearning for meaning and the clash between faith and reason, it also paints an intimate portrait of who we are as a species. The book tackles some of the big questions but requires no special knowledge of any of the subjects to enjoy.

"A brilliant, genre-defying read, Bone Lines deftly unravels the wonder of oneness," Barbara Bos, Women Writers

About the author: Born in Hong Kong to expats from Liverpool (and something of a nomad ever since) Stephanie Bretherton is now based in London. Before returning to her first love of creative writing, she spent many years pursuing alternative forms of storytelling, from stage to screen and media to marketing. Drawn to what connects rather than separates, Stephanie is fascinated by the spaces between absolutes and opposites, between science and spirituality, nature and culture. This lifelong curiosity – and occasional conflict – has been channelled into her debut novel, Bone Lines (and into short stories, poems and various works in progress, including the continuation of the Children of Sarah series, of which Bone Lines is the first, stand-alone story.)
http://stephaniebretherton.com/

For review copies, hi res images or more information: Juliet@qspr.com T: 02076091151