From the 2025 Booker-longlisted author of Seascraper

'One of the finest British novelists of his generation' Times

'A huge talent' Hilary Mantel

'Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written' Douglas Stuart

'What a writer' Richard Osman

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times PFD Young Writer of the Year Award and the Encore Prize

'Stunning... Wood has created one of the most moving and human characters in recent fiction' Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven

The mesmerising new novel from the acclaimed author of The Bellwether Revivals: a rich and immersive story of love, obsession, creativity and disintegration.

On a forested island off the coast of Istanbul stands Portmantle, a refuge for beleaguered artists. There, a curious assembly of painters, architects, writers and musicians strive to restore their faded talents. Elspeth 'Knell' Conroy is a celebrated painter who has fled the dizzying art scene of 1960s London; on the island, she spends her nights wrestling with her elusive masterpiece. Then a disaffected teenager named Fullerton arrives at the refuge and disrupts its routines. He is plagued by nightmares that steer him into danger, and Knell is left to pick apart the chilling mystery: where did the boy come from, what is 'The Ecliptic', and how does it relate to their abandoned lives in England?

Praise for The Ecliptic:

'A novelist to watch' The Times 

'A resounding achievement . . . Rich, beautiful and written by an author of great depth and resource' Edward Docx, Guardian

'Full of suspense and beautifully written, superbly imagined and constructed . . . A terrifically gripping and playful book' Sunday Times

'Exhilarating, earthy, cerebral, frank and unflinching . . . A masterfully paced and suspenseful read' Independent

'A rich, intricate and layered work' Observer

'Haunts the imagination long after the final page' Independent on Sunday 


 

‘A flawless meditation on creativity and the psychic toll it takes. Not only is it beautifully written, but there's a bloody good twister of a plot that rewards you well beyond the final page’ -- Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
‘Stunning … Wood has created one of the most moving and human characters in recent fiction’ -- Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven
‘A curious, bewitching and beguiling book that manages to be both profoundly moving and as gripping and unputdownable as a thriller. Outstanding’ -- SJ Watson, author of Before I Go to Sleep
‘An intelligent examination of creativity, psychology, and a riveting mystery … this ambitious novel will haunt the imagination long after the final page’ * Independent on Sunday *
‘A resounding achievement … Absorbing, rich, beautiful’ * Guardian *
‘Exhilarating. A masterfully paced and suspenseful read’ * Independent *
‘Wood has lost none of his ability to combine suspense with striking images. His fiction is playfully experimental, but never loses sight of its primary purpose: to entertain’ * Daily Telegraph *

Benjamin Wood was born in 1981 and grew up in Merseyside. He is the author of five acclaimed novels, including the 2025 Booker-longlisted Seascraper. His works have been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, the Commonwealth Book Prize, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the RSL Encore Award ,the CWA Gold Dagger Award and the European Union Prize for Literature. In 2014, he won France's Prix du Roman Fnac. He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College, London, and lives in Surrey with his wife and sons.