It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
The Paper Palace

The Paper Palace

The No.1 New York Times Bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

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

Reviews

  • 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

About the author

Miranda Cowley Heller

Miranda Cowley Heller was raised in New York. After graduating from Harvard she became a books editor, before working for a decade as Head of Drama Series at HBO. She divides her time between Los Angeles, London and Cape Cod. The Paper Palace, her debut, was a number 1 New York Times bestseller in the US, a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK and was longlisted for the Women's Prize. Things the Tide has Discarded is her first poetry collection.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more