{"product_id":"9781398533400","title":"The Original : 'Puts Stevens in the class of Sarah Waters and even du Maurier herself' Financial Times","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharlotte says about The Original: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"I’m not often a reader of books with more than 300 pages, but this one had me hooked!  Following the story of Grace, a Victorian woman who seeks to gain independence as a copyist, The Original focuses on the secrets she keeps - and those that are kept from her. An homage to art and authenticity, it balances its gritty and compelling plot with introspection and a personal tenderness that give it life and warmth until its final pages.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOxfordshire, 1899. Grace Inderwick grows up on the peripheries of a once-great household, an unwanted guest in her uncle’s home. She has unusual skills and unusual predilections: for painting, though faces elude her; for lurking in the shadows; for other girls.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Then a letter arrives, postmarked Saint Helena. After years missing at sea, Grace’s cousin Charles is ready to come home. When Charles returns, unrecognisable and uncanny, a rift emerges between those who claim he is an imposter and Grace’s aunt, who insists he is her son. And Grace, whose intimate knowledge of forgeries is her own closely-guarded secret, must decide who and what to believe in, and what kind of life she wants to live.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Deftly-plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens’s distinctive intelligence, style and wit, THE ORIGINAL is a novel about the value of authenticity in art and in love, and what it means to be a true original.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Stevens, Nell\u003cbr\u003eModern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (post c 1945)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003ePublished on 23 April 2026 by Simon \u0026amp; Schuster Ltd (Scribner UK) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 400 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 131 x 27 | 288g\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stevens, Nell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58124588122486,"sku":"9781398533400","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9781398533400.jpg?v=1781964747","url":"https:\/\/haslemerebookshop.co.uk\/products\/9781398533400","provider":"The Haslemere Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}