The Giant Dark: an award-winning novel about love and fame

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'Heartbreaking, beautiful, epic. I loved it.'

KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of The Mercies

What does it mean to be adored

Aida is the defining rock star of her age; her every move observed, examined and owned by a devoted, cultish fanbase. When she disappears without a trace into a complicated love affair, her fans are determined to find her, uncover her truths and own her once more.

Away from the spotlight, Aida and Ehsan reconnect after a decade apart, hoping to recapture the innocent, lost love of their youth. But before long, their connection is strained by secrets and jealousies. The past begins to blur with their present as they follow in the footsteps of tragic, mythic lovers before them.

Inaugural winner of the Mo Siewcharran prize and shortlisted for the Encore Award, The Giant Dark is a stunning and heartbreaking literary novel about love and fame.

'A beautiful and imaginative reinterpretation that had me spellbound.'

JENNIFER SAINT, author of Ariadne

'Blindingly brilliant... I cannot wait to read everything she writes.'

DAISY JOHNSON, author of Everything Under

'Wholly original.'

GUARDIAN

Reviews

Rich and immersive, The Giant Dark is a gorgeous novel about love and trauma, jealousy, art, and the mythologising effects of fame. A book to lose yourself in -- Julia Armfield
Blindingly brilliant. Hasin is a force to be reckoned with and I cannot wait to read everything she writes -- Daisy Johnson
A brilliant, intoxicating reimagining. A heady brew of art, love and its cataclysmic impact -- Irenosen Okojie
A magical and dark story of lovers and muses, jealousy and secrets, and music, brilliantly told in Hasin's precise and devastating prose -- Nikesh Shukla

The Giant Dark is captivating and gorgeous. A sensual treat of a novel about youth, euphoria and the ways we chain ourselves to other people. Hasin creates a world where passion, love and duty mingle with artifice and false promise, and brings into that world two lovers whose combustible mix of desire and nostalgia will result in tragedy.
It's a book to read when you're up alone late at night, missing people. When you've forgotten what it's like to dance in a crowd, to hold someone's hand, to lose yourself in another person, read this book.

-- Rory Gleeson
A masterful exploration of fame and followings. The antithesis between the construction of a personality by her devotees and the harsh reality of someone coming to terms with fame and juggling the day-to-day tensions of interpersonal relationships is what makes Hasin's novel particularly brilliant * i-D *
A wholly original story that explores themes of jealousy, trauma and the crippling effects of fame with visceral panache. * Guardian *
The Giant Dark is a dreamy, lyrical, intense retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice - a beautiful and imaginative reinterpretation that had me spellbound. It's poetic, enigmatic and darkly poignant. -- Jennifer Saint
An elegant, visceral love story that is as of the moment as it is true to its classical origin. Sad, surprising and incredibly beautiful. -- Kate Sawyer
Heartbreaking, beautiful, epic. I loved it -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

Author Bio

Sarvat Hasin is from Pakistan. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford. Her first novel, This Wide Night, was published by Penguin India and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book You Can't Go Home Again was published in 2018 and featured in Vogue India's and The Hindu's best of the year lists. She won the Moth Writer's Retreat Bursary in 2018 and in 2019, Mo Siewcharran Prize for The Giant Dark which came out in 2021. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as Outsiders, The Mays Anthology, English PEN, and Harper's Bazaar. She lives in London and works at the Almeida Theatre.