The Radleys

Description

Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose. When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can't sleep, can't eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can't go outside unless they're smothered in Factor 50. With a visit from their lethally louche Uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.

Matt Haig was born in 1975. He is the bestselling author of The Humans and The Last Family in England. The Dead Fathers Club, an update of Hamlet featuring an eleven-year-old boy, and The Possession of Mr Cave, a horror story about an overprotective father, are being made into films. He is also the author of the award winning children's novel Shadow Forest, and its sequel, The Runaway Troll. His work has been translated into 26 languages. Matt has lived in London and Spain, and now lives in York with the writer Andrea Semple and their two children.

* Beautifully written... I just loved The Radleys. -- Jo Brand * Great fun. Vogue * Addictive. Daily Mail * Highly recommended. Observer * A sharp, bloody tale of abstinence and indulgence (and trying not to eat the neighbours). -- Steven Hall, author of The Raw Shark Texts * Reality bites in a funny family affair... pointed, clever and witty. Independent * Delightfully eccentric ... a strangely moving portrait of a marriage. The Financial Times * Dripping in blood, this is a story of family secrets so terrible that they shouldn't be uncovered. Guardian * Delightfully new and, unusually, rather English ... An enjoyably twisty and self-aware tale. Metro * Red-blooded fiction at its most seductive. Sunday Telegraph * Haig's very original spin on the [vampire] myth is insightful, frightening and uplifting. The Guardian * Smart, snappy, quirky ... as much a satire on self-denying suburban life as a straightforward bloodthirsty tale. Scotsman * Ratchets up the pace and the tension until the taut conclusion. Bloody good fun. SFX Magazine * Switches deftly between a classic Carrie-style narrative of teen difference, in which the kids are teased for their outsiderness, and a parental tale of mid-life crisis. Herald * Great fun, with much enjoyment derived from the placing of these ancient bloodsuckers in dull English suburbia. Vogue * Haig writes in addictive, bitesize chapters that pump the action along... All vampire fiction has a strong sexual element, but in this book, the passion's not just for the pale-faced teens. Daily Mail * A witty introduction to present-day vampire lore... Highly recommended. Observer * vampire fans will find lots to enjoy, but it's the blackly comic dissection of the family that makes this book stand out. The Guardian * Witty as well as deep. Books for Keeps * The 'some adult content' coverline gives due warning that teen readers might be bored by adults holding dinner parties and contemplating affaris, but the story should carry them through such longueurs. Books for Keeps * Shot through with wry humour, Haig's lively family saga, replete with sexual frissons and distinctly subversive undercurrents, is carried off with aplomb Guardian * [A] life-affirming comedy Independent * Written in short, juicy chapters this life-affirming comedy will particularly appeal to older teens -- Emma Hagestadt The Independent * A witty and humane story about a family of vampires living in respectable English suburbia Daily Mail