Up to the Light

‘Utterly compulsive … I could not stop reading’ CHARLOTTE McCONAGHY

‘Mesmerising … I felt the unearthly pull of its power long after I'd finished’ KALIANE BRADLEY

From the acclaimed author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield, comes an extraordinary epic novel following two alpine climbers risking everything in pursuit of what they love.

June, 1994. The infamous Mount Varda has been untouched by mountaineers for decades, since the last expedition ended in terrible tragedy.

Liam Holness and Petal Coulson-Carter, best friends and celebrated climbers, exist outside mountaineering’s privileged circles. When they are invited to join a new expedition on Varda, led by the famous adventurer Jim Callaghan, they are initially sceptical.

But the call of the mountain proves too strong, and soon Liam and Petal are in the French Alps preparing their climb. Joining the team is Bill Franklin, Liam’s oldest rival, whose sweet nature begins to wear down Liam’s proud defenses, while Petal’s head is turned by a climber’s widow in the town. As the expedition looms closer, the climbers are troubled by sleepless nights, sickness and lashing winds in the air.

As they make their ascent, the world below gives way to something stranger. How can Liam and Petal be sure of what is real around them? And will they ever know what happened to those they left behind on the peak?

Moving from the heartstopping expedition to its devastating aftermath a decade later, Up to the Light is a staggeringly beautiful, utterly chilling and deeply moving novel of epic scope. It asks why we are so drawn to danger, and how both love and tragedy can alter the course of our lives forever.

‘As beautiful as it is horrifying … this novel shows a generational talent stepping fully into her prime’ HEATHER PARRY, author of Carrion Crow

‘An unforgettable wrenching epic … Armfield is an extraordinary storytelling talent’ SARVAT HASIN, author of Strange Girls

‘An epic novel that never neglects intimacy even as it reaches for astounding heights. Intelligent, unsettling, ambitious’ JOHN PATRICK McHUGH, author of Fun and Games