The Quickening cover art

The Quickening

The thrilling, feminist page-turner from the bestselling author of What You Did

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Quickening

By: Claire McGowan
Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £17.94

Buy Now for £17.94

LIMITED TIME OFFER

£0.99/mo for the first 3 months. Terms apply.
'A white-knuckle ride of a thriller' Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key

'An essential and chilling read' Heat magazine

'A wild and page-turning thriller' The Sun

'Perilous and gripping' Woman & Home magazine

'Highly recommended for book clubs . . . so many talking points' Prima magazine

YOUR BODY. THEIR CHOICE.

The Hope Party's new laws have transformed Great Britain: the countryside rewilded, children's rights prioritised, and births on the rise. But freedom is fading.

Karen has learned to navigate this new world, keeping her head down as her fertility is constantly monitored. As her husband's career thrives, while hers stalls. As her son is drawn into misogynist groups. Like everyone else, she's too frightened to speak up.

Until her teenage daughter reveals a life-changing secret: she's pregnant. With abortion and contraception banned, her future has gone up in flames. But Karen won't let this happen - Charlotte is going to have the life she lost.

Karen turns to her sister Isobel, a doctor who's initially reluctant to help. But when they learn Charlotte's pregnancy is ectopic and life-threatening, the stakes skyrocket. The three women go on the run, getting deeper into danger with every hour that passes. With powerful enemies on their tail, they will risk everything in a desperate fight for freedom, and for life.

The Quickening is a powerful exploration of motherhood, sacrifice, and the terrifying cost of complicity. For fans of Vox, Red Clocks, and The Handmaid's Tale.©2026 Claire McGowan (P)2026 Little, Brown Book Group Limited Dystopian Genre Fiction Political Science Fiction Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Pregnancy Exciting
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

So clever and terrifying and moving and compelling and thought-provoking
Amazing premise and so well executed . . . One of my books of the year already
A white-knuckle ride of a thriller that's also a study of motherhood, power, cowardice and courage. In every chapter I found myself wondering what I would do in the characters' shoes and found no easy answers. Immersive, enraging and terrifyingly plausible.
The not-so-distant future is a terrifyingly plausible place in The Quickening, but Claire McGowan has a gift for finding the grace and humanity in our darkest corners. A supremely good read
Relentlessly fast-paced and gripping, The Quickening is a chilling, high-octane blend of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984. I loved it
When teenager Charlotte finds she has a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, she goes on the run with her mum and doctor aunt, and begins a perilous and gripping journey.
[A] gripping, dystopian thriller . . . A timely and frightening take on the age-old battle for women to have rights over their own bodies, The Quickening is an essential - and chilling - read.
I'd highly recommend this for book clubs, as there are so many talking points. Dystopian or scarily believable? You decide.
A wild and page-turning thriller
This is the sort of novel that stays with you long after you have closed the book. It is gripping, emotional and thought provoking, while also delivering all the pace and suspense of an outstanding thriller. I can already imagine The Quickening creating lively discussion in book groups. Highly recommended.
All stars
Most relevant
Listened to while on holiday. Great story, slightly scary how it could happen.
Could maybe have made more of the ending, didn’t want it to finish!

Great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Powerful and disturbing. I have read quite a few of Claire's books, and she is an excellent writer, but this one is next level, compared to her Domestic Suspense and Thriller novels. This one leaves you with much to think about, and will probably spark many discussions and debates. Good narration.

Powerful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Plausibly set in the politics of the mid 2020's. Claire McGowan's warning about populist policies run rampant are quite believable. The hypocrisy of politicians and government apparatchik's is very well observed. The simplicity with which she describes how a 'benign' government controls it's population had me eyeing my watch and phone with some caution. The male of the species does not come out with much credit, but as a male I have to admit the scenarios are all too likely. Excellent work !

Excellent Dystopian Novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.