The Warlow Experiment

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

The year is 1793 and Herbert Powyss is set on making his name as a scientist. Determined to study the effects of prolonged solitude on another human being, he advertises for someone willing to live in his cellar for seven years in return for a generous financial reward. The only man to apply is John Warlow, a semi-literate farm labourer with a wife and six children to support. Cut off from nature, Warlow soon begins losing his grip on sanity while, above ground, Powyss rapidly becomes obsessed with Warlow's wife, Hannah.

Reviews

Praise for Alix Nathan: 'The best kind of historical fiction ... She is an original, with a virtuoso touch.' -- Hilary Mantel
This is an extraordinary, quite brilliant book * CJ Sansom *
A powerful and unsettling novel, both fascinating and infinitely strange -- Andrew Taylor
Unusual, gripping and emotionally complex - I loved this book. -- Sally Magnusson, author of The Sealwoman's Gift
Original and beautifully written, this is a meaty, gripping novel of obsession gone sour. * The Daily Mail *
A darkly compelling read -- The Herald
Can't recommend it highly enough. A magnificent read ... the complexity of character and the interweaving of the political upheaval in England at the time worked so well for me. -- Philip Ardagh

Author Bio

Alix Nathan read English and Music at York University. She lives in the Welsh Marches where she owns some ancient woodland with her husband. Her short stories have been published in Ambit, The London Magazine and New Welsh Review and read on BBC Radio 4.