Enlightenment (LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024)

Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits – torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community. But their friendship is threatened by the arrival of love.

Thomas falls for James Bower, who runs the local museum. Together they develop an obsession with the vanished 19th-century astronomer Maria Văduva, said to haunt a nearby manor, who may have made startling astronomical discoveries that have never been acknowledged.

Meanwhile Grace meets Nathan, a fellow sixth former who represents a different, wilder kind of life. They are drawn passionately together, but quickly pulled apart, casting Grace into the wider world and far away from Thomas.

Over the course of 20 years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as a devastating story of love and scientific pursuit unfolds and the mysteries of Aldleigh are revealed.

Enlightenment was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024.