Nina Allan A Granite Silence : a mesmerising historical novel about a

Absolutely got me hooked Val McDermidSHORTLISTED FOR BEST NOVEL AT THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARDS 2026A Granite Silence is an exploration a journey through time to a particular house, in a particular street, Urquhart Road, Aberdeen in 1934, where eightyearold Helen Priestly lives with her mother and father. Among this long, grey corridor of fourstorey tenements, a daunting expanse of granite, working families are squashed together like pickled herrings in their narrow flats. Here are Helens neighbours the Topps, the Josses, the Mitchells, the Gordons, the Donalds, the Coulls and the Hunts. Returning home from school for her midday meal, Helen is sent by her mother Agnes to buy a loaf from the bakery at the end of the street. Agnes never sees her daughter alive again. Nina Allan explores the aftermath of Helens disappearance, turning a probing eye to the closeknit neighbourhood where everyone knows everyone, at least by sight and with subtlety and sympathy, explores the intricate layers of truth and falsehood that can coexist in one moment of history. Full of echoes, allusions and eerie diversions, A Granite Silence is an investigation into a notorious true crime case, but also a stylish, imaginative inquiry into who gets to tell a story, how it is told, and why. | Nina Allan A Granite Silence : a mesmerising historical novel about a