
This book is shortlisted for the 2015 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Longlisted for the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Longlisted for the 2015 Jerwood Prize. In the middle of a winter's night, a woman wraps herself in a blanket, picks up a pen and starts writing to an estranged friend. In answer to a question you asked a long time ago, she writes, and so begins a letter that calls up a shared past both women have preferred to forget. Without knowing if her friend, Butterfly, is even alive or dead, she writes night after night - a letter of friendship that turns into something more revealing and recriminating. By turns a belated outlet of rage, an act of self-defence, and an offering of forgiveness, the letter revisits a betrayal that happened a decade and a half before, and dissects what is left of a friendship caught between the forces of hatred and love. The thoughtfulness, intensity and sheer beauty of her writing in her first two novels, The Wilderness and All Is Song, brought Samantha Harvey both huge acclaim and many prize shortlistings. Those readers who loved those novels will fall on Dear Thief with relief and delight.
“The novel takes the form of an unsent letter to the disappeared Nina, becoming an intense reflection on its author’s life; compassionate, matter-of-fact, and mysterious about death and its ultimate transforming.” - The Telegraph
“The novel takes the form of an unsent letter to the disappeared Nina, becoming an intense reflection on its author’s life; compassionate, matter-of-fact, and mysterious about death and its ultimate transforming.” - The Telegraph
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780099597667
Number of pages: 272
Weight: 191 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 17 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A glorious, sensuous, grown-up novel, intelligent and passionate. -- Tessa Hadley
Harvey has struck gold... Perhaps because it is so intimate, so honest, so raw, Dear Thief provokes you to think about life, and Life, and your own life. -- Claire Kilroy * Guardian *
Beautiful... Exhilarating... Remarkable -- James Wood * New Yorker *
Compassionate, matter-of-fact and mysterious about death and its ultimate transforming... Harvey offers an incandescent vision of hope and acceptance. -- Catherine Taylor * Sunday Telegraph *
A quiet, unusual book, full of sad truths. I loved this epistolary novel of friendship, betrayal and forgiveness. -- Paula Hawkins, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN * Guardian *
Harvey's writing is stunning: an effortless spool that winds back the layers... Brilliant. -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
Singular and haunting. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *
Harvey has struck gold... Perhaps because it is so intimate, so honest, so raw, Dear Thief provokes you to think about life, and Life, and your own life. -- Claire Kilroy * Guardian *
Beautiful... Exhilarating... Remarkable -- James Wood * New Yorker *
Compassionate, matter-of-fact and mysterious about death and its ultimate transforming... Harvey offers an incandescent vision of hope and acceptance. -- Catherine Taylor * Sunday Telegraph *
A quiet, unusual book, full of sad truths. I loved this epistolary novel of friendship, betrayal and forgiveness. -- Paula Hawkins, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN * Guardian *
Harvey's writing is stunning: an effortless spool that winds back the layers... Brilliant. -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
Singular and haunting. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *
You may also be interested in...
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Not registered? CREATE AN ACCOUNTCREATE A plus ACCOUNT
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
Click & Collect
Reserve online, pay on collection
Thank you for your reservation
Your order is now being processed and we have sent a confirmation email to you at
When will my order be ready to collect?
Following the initial email, you will be contacted by the shop to confirm that your item is available for collection.
Call us on or send us an email at
Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order
Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at