The Drowning of Arthur Braxton
The bestselling modern fairytale, with a new introduction from Luke Cutforth‘I loved it … so good!’ CARRIE HOPE FLETCHERArthur Braxton has had enough. His mum has left, his dad is broken and he’s the laughing stock of his high school.But things are about to change. When Arthur runs away and shelters in an old abandoned bathhouse, he sees a naked woman swimming in the pool. From this point on, his sad little life will never be the same.
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4th Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
This edition published by 4th Estate in 2016
First published in Great Britain by The Friday Project in 2013
Copyright © Caroline Smailes 2013
Cover Layout Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Caroline Smailes asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007479092
Ebook Edition © July 2016 ISBN: 9780007479399
Version: 2016-09-28
‘Magical, weird, wonderful, dark unique Northern brilliance’
MATT HAIG
‘… there was so much about this book to love; the decrepit seaside setting, the terrible weather, the gritty realism, the magic, the freshness, the strangeness, and the way the story and the characters haunted me afterwards. I felt safe throughout this novel – I knew I was in good hands; with each change of voice and structure I remained confident in Smailes’ ability to lead things to a satisfying conclusion. And that’s exactly what she did’
CARYS BRAY
‘This thoroughly modern retelling is everything a fairy tale should be: strange, beautiful and wholly unexpected’
TANYA BYRNE
‘This beautifully told and sometimes disturbing tale will intrigue as it reaches its dramatic conclusion’
Bella
‘I loved it … so good!’
CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER
‘I cannot compare this to anything I’ve ever read. You will fall in love with this book’
EMMA BLACKERY
‘Someone should make this into a film’
LUKEISNOTSEXY
Never enough words to thank the superlative Sophie Wright – actress, mermaid, cake baker, dream maker.
Contents
Laurel — Air: (Earth. Water. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Water. Air. Fire.)
Delphina — Water: (Earth. Air. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Water. Air. Fire.)
Delphina — Water: (Earth. Air. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Water. Air. Fire.)
Delphina — Water: (Earth. Air. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Water. Air. Fire.)
Delphina — Water: (Earth. Air. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Water. Air. Fire.)
Laurel — Air: (Earth. Water. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Air. Water. Fire.)
Silver — Earth: (Air. Water. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Air. Water. Fire.)
Madora Argon (Maddie) — Water: (Air. Earth. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Air. Water. Fire.)
Kester and Pollock — Air: (Water. Earth. Fire.)
Arthur — Earth: (Air. Water. Fire.)
Dear Reader,
READ. THIS. BOOK.
I am told by the various desperate internet searches I conducted late at night for ‘h0W d0 U WRiTe a BlO0DY FOREWORD??!!?’ that my purpose in life for the next few minutes is to convince you to read this book. So read it. There. I’m done! Time for a well-earned break, don’t you think?
Maybe not …
Over the course of this introduction, I will try to explain why you should read this book but I mean … you bloody bought the thing! Why wouldn’t you read it?! Don’t you want your money’s worth?! WHAT IS MY PURPOSE HERE?!
Okay calm. I feel like having an internal written crisis over my own existence won’t better your chances of perusing this book so here goes …
I first met Caroline Smailes, the author of this here wonderful novel, on September 5th 2014 in Highbury Fields, London. I was wearing an awful bandana in a last-ditch attempt to look vaguely artsy - an area in which, aesthetically at least, I am sorely lacking. I was nervous. So nervous in fact that my witless 20-year-old self thought he could woo a fantastic writer with a simple slice of carrot cake from a tearoom around the corner. Why was I prepared to embarrass myself like this, you ask? Well, because I’d fallen in love with Caroline’s book, and I wanted to convince her to let me and my friend Josh make it into a film. (Somehow, we managed it!)
I’d fallen in love with The Drowning of Arthur Braxton
