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Permanence

Brief Description
Stylish and sumptuously romantic, charged with emotional electricity - this is the story of an affair... Clara and Francis are in love - but nobody knows it. For months they have been slipping away from their respective lives, sharing sweet, stolen afternoons in anonymous hotel rooms.... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
Stylish and sumptuously romantic, charged with emotional electricity - this is the story of an affair... Clara and Francis are in love - but nobody knows it. For months they have been slipping away from their respective lives, sharing sweet, stolen afternoons in anonymous hotel rooms. Until one day they wake up in a bedroom neither of them recognises with no memory of how they got there. They find themselves in a strange, impossible city- a place populated entirely by adulterers. Here they can at last live openly as a couple, without fear of consequence, putting the theory of their love into practice. Here the sky is painted over the old town square in changeless, cloudless blue. Ripe fruits wait on their kitchen table each morning and the sunset comes down in a blaze of pink each night. And contact with the real world is impossible. As long as Clara and Francis are here, they only have each other. How do you know when you've found true love? How much would you sacrifice to keep hold of it? And how long can you stay in paradise before the cracks start to show?

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241776315

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Hamish Hamilton Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 40.0mm

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 700g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Sophie Mackintosh is the author of four novels, including The Water Cure and Cursed Bread. She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize, has won a Betty Trask Award, and has been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. She has been published in Granta, The White Review and TANK magazine among others. Her new novel, Permanence, will be published in April 2026.

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