Epic new novel from The Book Thief author Markus Zusak to be published by Transworld

Transworld are set to publish the new literary novel from Markus Zusak, the internationally acclaimed bestselling author of The Book Thief. Bridge of Clay will be published by Doubleday in hardback on 11 October 2018.

Released ten years after the The Book Thief, now considered a modern classic, the book will tell the story of the five Dunbar brothers, who are living – fighting, dreaming, loving – in the perfect squalor of a house without grown-ups. Today, the father who abandoned them is about to walk back in.

But why has he returned, and who have the boys become since he left?

At the helm is Matthew, cynical, poetic; Rory, forever truanting; Henry, the money-spinner; and young Tommy, the pet collector who has colonized the house with dysfunctional pets, including Achilles the mule and Rosy the Border collie. 

And then there’s Clay, the quiet one, his whole young life haunted by an unspeakable act.

From the tale of their grandfather, whose passion for the ancient Greeks still colours their lives, to the mother and father who met over a mislaid piano, to the present day, where five sons dwell in a house with no rules, Bridge of Clay is an epic portrait of a ramshackle family and the unburying of one boy’s tragic secret.

Upon announcing the release, Editorial Director Jane Lawson commented "I’m utterly thrilled to be publishing this stunning literary novel which has absolutely been worth the wait. Bridge of Clay is as original, ambitious and intensely moving as only Markus Zusak can be."

Bill Scott-Kerr, Publisher, added "Markus’ amazing storytelling ability and his innate artistry has long been a thing of wonder to me and the chance to make this magnificent novel, at once layered, subtle and exuberant, into one of the year’s literary events is one which all of us at Transworld are relishing."

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