Unlikely best friends Thomas and Grace are bound together by questions of faith, love and astronomy in this dazzling summer read from the #1 bestselling author. READERS HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH ENLIGHTENMENT: ‘Vibrates with wonder’ ‘I absolutely loved it’ ‘Full of magic’ ‘Exquisite…strange and wonderful and unpredictable’ ‘This book tore my heart apart then put it back together again’Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits – torn between their religion and their desire to explore the world.

But their friendship is ruptured by the arrival of love. Over the course of twenty years, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as a devastating story of passion and scientific adventure unfolds and Aldleigh’s unique mysteries are revealed. ‘It’s glorious… A beautiful, memorable novel’ OBSERVER ‘Sarah Perry just gets better and better’ INDEPENDENT‘Absorbing… A romance worthy of Emily Brontë’ WALL STREET JOURNAL‘Gorgeous…ethereal’ GUARDIAN‘Sarah Perry creates worlds to disappear into… Beautiful, vivid’ BBC*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024* *A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE GUARDIAN, DAILY TELEGRAPH AND DAILY MAIL*