Edith Holler

A Novel

By: Edward Carey

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

The witty and entrancing story of a young woman trapped in a ramshackle English playhouse—and the mysterious figure who threatens the theater's very survival

The year is 1901. England’s beloved queen has died, and her aging son has finally taken the throne. In the eastern city of Norwich, bright and inquisitive young Edith Holler spends her days among the boisterous denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave its confines. Fascinated by tales of the city she knows only from afar, she decides to write a play of her own: a stage adaptation of the legend of Mawther Meg, a monstrous figure said to have used the blood of countless children to make the local delicacy known as Beetle Spread. But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar, imposing woman named Margaret Unthank, heir to the actual Beetle Spread fortune, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play—the one thing that’s truly hers—from the newcomer’s sinister designs.

Teeming with unforgettable characters, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control—and to reveal inconvenient truths about the way children are used.©2023 Edward Carey (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Jayne Entwistle's solid delivery adds depth to this quirky tale of a girl who is trapped in her family's tumbledown theater.... Entwistle's vivid performance adds comic malevolence to this entertaining, would-be gothic horror." (AudioFile)

“A fabulous novel. . . . The voice of Edith Holler is distinctive and brilliant. . . . Edward Carey is a brilliant writer.” —Bill Goldstein, NBC New York

“Draws on fairy tales and Shakespeare for a dazzling bildungsroman. . . . [and] unquestionably succeeds. This affirms [Edward Carey’s] standing as a major literary talent.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“In ways both witty and dark, the novel brilliantly probes the distinction between drama and real life, audience and performer, actor and character. And the whimsical illustrations, all drawn by Carey himself, are the perfect accompaniment to a story about an art form as visual as it is verbal. A wonderfully strange and quirky tale about the power of penning and performing tales.” —Kirkus

Relentlessly grim but uniquely original.

Loved his last book and was excited about this one. Carey’s voice and the world he creates are fantastic. However, I struggled to finish this one because the story became stuck on relentless grimness and I was confused if Edith was a ghost or real? Could have benefited from editing the last 3 hours down . It was written during the pandemic and the feeling of being ‘stuck in’ with no end in sight. I

Wild

At times hard to follow but comes together at points. Glad the good guys win in the end. I will stick with murder love and world war 2.