Bridge 108 – Publication Day!
Bridge 108, my fourth novel, is published today by 47North in hardback, paperback, audiobook and eBook editions! I’m over the moon.
This is my first novel to appear in hardback. And what a gorgeous hardback it is, with a beautiful dust jacket covering stunning book boards. How to make an author happy!
A stormy Isle of Bute in Scotland. Bridge 108 is my first book release since moving here two years ago!
I’m grateful to my wonderful editor, Jason Kirk, and the whole 47North team, the Brilliance audiobook team, and the cover designer David Drummond. The audiobook has six narrators for the voices of Caleb (Will M. Watt), Ma Lexie (Moira Quirk), Skylark (Fiona Hardingham), Jerome (Steve West), Jaspar (James Langton) and Sonia (Elizabeth Knowelden), and I am thrilled to bits with their fantastic performances.
As some of you know, Bridge 108 is set in the world of my debut, A Calculated Life, though either novel can be read first. Whereas A Calculated Life focuses on ‘the haves’ in late-twenty-first century England, Bridge 108 focuses on ‘the have-nots.’
Early reviews in The Guardian, Financial Times, Locus, Interzone, and more, are positive – see them on my Press page. Author interviews are in the pipeline so keep an eye on my tweets, and here on my website if you are curious.
“Charnock tells her story through the lives of ordinary people caught up in situations beyond their control, and Bridge 108 is all the more powerful for that.” — The Guardian
“Anne Charnock’s Bridge 108 is set in the same universe as her terrific 2013 debut A Calculated Life…(Bridge 108) seems horribly prescient. With the inclusion of climate refugees, child trafficking, and slavery, Bridge 108 adds that final touch of verisimilitude to Charnock’s post-Brexit nightmare.” — Locus Magazine
Are you are interested in fiction that relates to climate change? I’ve made recommendations on TOR.com — Five Recent Books About Climate Catastrophe.
Many thanks, all, for your continuing support for my scribblings.
Here is the back cover blurb for Bridge 108:
From the Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author, a dystopian novel of oppression set in the climate-ravaged Europe of A Calculated Life, a finalist for the Kitschies award and Philip K. Dick Award.
Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself.
After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey—to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family. For Caleb, only one thing is certain: making his way in the world will be far more difficult than his mother imagined.
Told through multiple voices and set against the backdrop of a haunting and frighteningly believable future, Bridge 108 charts the passage of a young boy into adulthood amid oppressive circumstances that are increasingly relevant to our present day.
Happy reading, everyone!
Book deal: Bridge 108 revealed!
As announced in The Bookseller today, I’m delighted to reveal the news that I’ve signed a contract with 47North for my fourth novel, Bridge 108. I’m so thrilled to be working with my editor, Jason Kirk, once again.
This latest novel is set in the same world as my debut, A Calculated Life, and it will be published in hardback and eBook editions in early 2020. Although these two novels are set in the same near-future world, they are ‘standalones’. Read them in whichever order you prefer!
Bridge 108 follows a young climate refugee who is trafficked into slavery in the north of England. To quote from the press release: “Bridge 108 is a warm yet deeply heart-rending story about a boy who is too trusting and inevitably falls prey to malevolent forces on his long trek. Yet he never waivers in his pursuit of success in a deeply divided and locked-down England.”
I signed the contract on the eve of the Frankfurt Book Fair as I arrived back in the UK from my travels in Kazakhstan and China. So it’s been a whirlwind of late! 
Many thanks to my agent Sarah Such.
Read the full news announcement here.
By the way, have you noticed my new author photos? These were shot by my talented friend Marzena Pogorzaly. I’m so pleased with them. Here’s one on my bio page.
