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The Book Game

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About this listen

‘A wonderfully clever and howlingly funny thriller’ The Spectator

'Glitters with secret agendas, hidden lies and sun-soaked desires' Emma Stonex

'Whip-smart and made me laugh out loud. Magnificent' Joanna Cannon

'Thorny and sexy' Beth Morrey

'Pulsing with heat and intrigue' Marianne Levy

What if your perfect life was a charade?

It is August, and eight old friends have gathered at a country house for a writers' retreat. By day, there is reading beside the pool or writing in the shady corners of the estate. In the evenings – drinks, dinner outdoors, games, midnight swimming.

But as temperatures rise in the stifling last days of summer, tensions do too. Old jealousies, new temptations and bitter rivalries bubble to the surface. By the end of the week, friendships – and lives – will have changed forever.

Astute, witty and page-turning, The Book Game is a novel about ambition, competition, regret and desire; about paths not taken and last chances suddenly seized; about the games people play. It asks what it means, in all senses, to be in the middle of life.

©2025 Frances Wise (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers
Family Life Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Small Town & Rural Game Funny Witty

Critic reviews

‘Genuinely gave me the chills, there’s more than a pinch of P.G. Wodehouse in there too too, and the whip-smart observations made me laugh out loud. This is a novel about the fierce and pivotal moments in our lives which might seem all-consuming but which will, eventually, become only biscuit crumbs…and the ending was PERFECT. Magnificent’ Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

‘Witty and gripping, with the heat rising from every page. These characters and their fates will stay with me for a long time’ Moa Herngren, author of The Divorce

‘A wonderfully clever and howlingly funny thriller’ The Spectator

'Who's in the mood for sumptuous country house intrigue? The Book Game is thorny and sexy. Everyone's fraught or up to no good. Gloriously uneasy, richly detailed, absorbing and beautifully written’ Beth Morrey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Saving Missy

'Wow, I really loved this. It's such an intelligent and perceptive piece of work, as well as being wildly entertaining, funny, and at times very moving. Wise's cast glitters with secret agendas, hidden lies and sun-soaked desires, in an irresistible character-driven story that slow-burns with menace. Fantastic' Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

The Book Game is gorgeous, pulsing with heat and sex and intrigue. The country estate setting is as beautiful as it is uneasy, and the writing is deliciously barbed. I devoured it in a day' Marianne Levy, author of Don’t Forget to Scream

‘I can’t remember how long it’s been since I enjoyed a book this much. Brilliantly drawn and made me howl with laughter.’ Frances Wilson, author of The Enigma of Muriel Spark

All stars
Most relevant
Not my usual preferred genre, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this book, but I really did. The characters were intriguing and I have to say I would love to have a Deborah in my life right now! The ending was unexpected and so thought provoking. Looking forward to the next book from Frances Wise.

A really enjoyable read with a thought provoking ending

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This was a great listen on holiday. The performance was brilliant and there was lots of familiarity in the characters! Really enjoyable, not taxing and very entertaining!

Great holiday read/listen

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I wasn’t sure if this was a satire or parody of academia, or an attempt to (yet again) rewrite the country-house novel. But it reads like a creative writing project whose author hopes it will be picked up as a film script. Written by two academics under a pseudonym, the story is cliche and tired, and every character vain and selfish (apart from Deborah, the non-academic publisher, who at least has a personality). Academia is unimaginatively conjured throughout as either fantasy-Oxbridge and the tiresome nonsense that comes with it or as unspecified but soulless modern universities.

The Audible narrator is fabulous though and does an excellent job.

Great narrator of tedious story

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