BOOK CLUB
CAMBRIDGE EDI T ION
BRINGING YOU TOP NEW FICTION PICKS, AUTHOR INTERVIEWS, DISCOUNTS AND LOTS MORE BOOK CHAT, THE EDITION BOOK CLUB IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH CAMBRIDGE LITERARY FESTIVAL AND HEFFERS
WORDS BY CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
CRIME FICTION QUEEN AND CAMBRIDGE DWELLER SOPHIE HANNAH DISCUSSES HER LATEST THRILLER, WHICH UNSETTLES FROM ITS IMPOSSIBLE PREMISE TO ITS CHILLING CONCLUSION HAVEN’T THEY GROWN BY SOPHIE HANNAH
her young family, leading the reader down intricately plotted twists and turns towards a gripping finale that’s both simultaneously totally unexpected and horrifyingly apparent – the mark of an absolutely first- rate thriller. “It was really good fun to write, partly because I just loved the idea,” Sophie says. “As soon as I thought of the children who haven’t grown, I just thought – wow, that is such a good hook, and I was really excited about writing it.” The idea first came about exactly as the book itself opens: Sophie was taking her son to an away football match, and realised
after a falling-out. But Flora seems to be accompanied by her two children, Thomas and Emily – who, bewilderingly, appear to still be the ages they were when the friends last spoke. It’s an immediately disturbing concept: to get a sense of the book’s menace, just try saying the title out loud a few times, changing the intonation from the one that you’d comfortably fall into when in conversation with parents about their offspring: it quickly becomes darker, more sinister. Why haven’t they grown? Attempting to answer this question consumes Beth, her husband Dom and
aybe he’s a monster already. It’s so easy to believe that the label only fits infamous historical
figures and mug-shot faces we see on the news. When it’s someone in our personal life… it’s hard to believe that their true nature might be monstrous.” Haven’t They Grown is the latest thriller from prolific Cambridge-based author Sophie Hannah. The new book hinges on a deliciously simple yet also complex mystery: central character Beth spots her old friend Flora, who she hasn’t seen for 12 years
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