Little Egypt

2016 Longlist

Elderly, Egypt-mad twins Isis and Osiris find their neglected English lives disturbed to catastrophic effect by the arrival of American Anarchist, Spike.

Little Egypt was once a well-to-do country house in the north of England. Now it’s derelict and trapped on a small island of land between a railway, a dual carriageway and a superstore, and although it looks deserted it isn’t. Nonagenarian twins, Isis and Osiris, still live in the home they were born in, and from which in the 1920s their obsessive Egyptologist parents left them to search for the fabled tomb of Herihor – a search from which they never returned. Isis and Osiris have stayed in the house, guarding a terrible secret, for all their long lives until a chance meeting between Isis and young American anarchist Spike, sparks an unlikely friendship and proves a catalyst for change.

(from publisher)

About the Author

Lesley Glaister is the author of twelve novels and winner of the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Yorkshire Post Author of the Year prizes. Her stories have been anthologised and broadcast on Radio 4. She has written drama for radio and stage. Lesley is a Fellow of the RSL, teaches creative writing at the University of St Andrews and lives in Edinburgh.

Librarian’s Comments

Gripping, moving and beautifully written. The author skilfully balances dark humour and melancholy.