X

HOME

Books

Catalogue

Authors

Blog

Events

About Us

Contact Us

Books

Catalogue

Authors

Blog

Events

About Us

Contact Us

We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

NO ITEMS

LOG IN

CONTINUE BROWSING

The Sacred Combe

Thomas Maloney

‘An ingenious and atmospheric first novel, inspired by the discovery of a mysterious library lost deep in the English countryside, and vibrating with the literary and musical echoes of late Romanticism, and lots of weather.’

Richard Holmes, author of Coleridge and The Age of Wonder

‘An exceptional first novel – intelligent, intriguing, wonderfully written, and rich with an atmosphere and sense of place that make it a joy to read.’

James Wilson, author of The Summer of Broken Stories

View all reviews

‘A bibliophile’s delight, a mystery, a tease, a frisson of dread, a fugue, a literary detective story, a philosophical fable — its imagination exquisitely calibrated to a gentle Gothicism where Bach, Coleridge, Thomas Chatterton and Edgar Allan Poe flit among the shades. Thomas Maloney’s perfectly judged story, with its vital and resonant sense of place, will surely become one of the beloved arcana of English fiction.’

Jim Perrin, author of West: A Journey Through the Landscapes of Loss

‘A man’s eye is accommodative, like his heart.’

Samuel Browne’s wife has left him suddenly after three years of marriage. She invites him to ‘go and live a better life without me’. He must start again, and alone.

And so it is that Sam finds himself deep in the English countryside in a cold but characterful old house, remote and encircled by hills, in the employment and company of an older, wiser man — a man as fond of mystery as he is of enlightenment. What is the purpose of the seemingly hopeless task set for Sam in the house’s ancient library? What is the secret of the unused room? And where does a life lose its way or gain its meaning?

The combe is home to a truth born of fraud, a building made of light, and a family wrecked by recklessness: loss and love reverberate around the house and around the novel, providing pleasure, pain and purpose. Combe Hall is a house designed to honour and to enthral. And this very fine debut novel does exactly the same.

‘An ingenious and atmospheric first novel, inspired by the discovery of a mysterious library lost deep in the English countryside, and vibrating with the literary and musical echoes of late Romanticism, and lots of weather.’

Richard Holmes, author of Coleridge and The Age of Wonder

‘An exceptional first novel – intelligent, intriguing, wonderfully written, and rich with an atmosphere and sense of place that make it a joy to read.’

James Wilson, author of The Summer of Broken Stories

View all reviews

BUY EBOOK

Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 148mm

Extent:304pp

ISBN (13):9781925321166

RRP:$32.99

Pub date:2 May 2016

Rights Held: World

Rights Sold: Audio (Bolinda)

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

2017 Desmond Elliott Prize - Long-listed

CATEGORIES / tags

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) FICTION / General Western philosophy: Enlightenment Climbing & mountaineering FICTION / Literary SPORTS & RECREATION / Mountaineering

AUTHOR

Thomas Maloney

Thomas Maloney was born in Kent in 1979, grew up in London, and studied Physics at Oxford. His first novel, The Sacred Combe, was published in 2016. He lives in Oxfordshire with his family.

Related content

Thomas Maloney was born in Kent in 1979, grew up in London, and studied…

Discover

By this Author
Recommended

Quick view

Learning to Die

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 3 Sep 2018 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Marlo

RRP: $24.99 Pub date: 2 Aug 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Vista Chinesa

Tatiana Salem Levy

RRP: $24.99 Pub date: 2 Aug 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding

Amanda Svensson

RRP: $35.00 Pub date: 5 Jul 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Watersong

Clarissa Goenawan

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 5 Jul 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Keeping in Touch

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 31 May 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Fever

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 3 May 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Animals in That Country

Laura Jean McKay

RRP: $22.99 Pub date: 12 Apr 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Devil House

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 29 Mar 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

Aue

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 1 Mar 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Voids

Ryan O’Connor

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 1 Mar 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Sisters Mao

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 1 Feb 2022 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

In Moonland

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 31 Aug 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Golden Book

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 3 Aug 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Liquid Land

Raphaela Edelbauer

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 3 Aug 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Orchard Murders

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 3 Aug 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Newcomer

Laura Elizabeth Woollett

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 2 Jul 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

The Snow Line

RRP: $29.99 Pub date: 2 Jul 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view

Quick view

All That I Remember About Dean Cola

RRP: $32.99 Pub date: 1 Jun 2021 Category: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) Cover view