Phalaina

LONDON, 1881. There’s something a little eerie about Manon—she’s not like the other girls at the orphanage. Maybe it’s her red eyes. Maybe it’s her silence. Maybe it’s the series of violent deaths that seem to follow her. What we do know: Someone is hot on her tail. And there’s a lot of money at stake in finding out where exactly she comes from—and what exactly she is. Alongside Manon’s story are letters to Charles Darwin from Professor Humphrey, a scientist who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Is it true that natural selection left humans at the top of the pyramid of life after all? Or, in the process of evolution, was there something elemental that humans lost, something that connected us to the rest of life on earth? Who and what else is out there? In order to stay alive, Manon must untangle the mystery of her origins, and perhaps the origins of humanity as well. From French writer Alice Brière-Haquet and translated by PEN-award winning translator Emma Ramadan comes Phalaina—the historical sci-fi thriller you won’t soon forget. A true story of navigating generational trauma as a child, I'll Keep You Close is about what comes after disaster: how survivors move forward, what they bring with them when they do, and the promise of beginning again while always keeping the past close.