In Ascension

Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize'Monumental' – Telegraph'Stellar' – The Scotsman'Magnificent' – GuardianLeigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life & volatile father. Enchanted by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms - what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings.Her discovery leads Leigh to the Mojave desert & an ambitious new space agency. Drawn deeper into the agency's work, she learns that the Atlantic trench is only one of several related phenomena from across the world, each piece linking up to suggest a pattern beyond human understanding. Leigh knows that to continue working with the agency will mean leaving behind her declining mother & her younger sister, & faces an impossible choice: to remain with her family, or to embark on a journey across the breadth of the cosmos.°°°Martin MacInnes lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. His debut novel, Infinite Ground (2016), won the Somerset Maugham Award. His second novel, Gathering Evidence (2020), led to his inclusion in The National Centre for Writing/British Council's list of ten writers shaping the UK's future. His third novel, In Ascension (2023), was longlisted for the Booker Prize & has been optioned for film. He is published in 10 languages, & is the winner of a Manchester Fiction Prize & a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. "Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanted by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms - what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings. Her discovery leads Leigh to the Mojave desert and an ambitious new space agency. Drawn deeper into the agency's work, she learns that the Atlantic trench is only one of several related phenomena from across the world, each piece linking up to suggest a pattern beyond human understanding. Leigh knows that to continue working with the agency will mean leaving behind her declining mother and her younger sister, and faces an impossible choice: to remain with her family, or to embark on a journey across the breadth of the cosmos. Exploring the natural world with the wonder and reverence we usually reserve for the stars, In Ascension is a compassionate, deeply inquisitive epic that reaches outward to confront the greatest questions of existence, looks inward to illuminate the smallest details of the human heart, and shows how - no matter how far away we might be and how much we have lost hope - we will always attempt to return to the people and places we call home."-- Provided by publisher BLACKWELL'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Mesmerising' Sunday Times 'Magnificent' Guardian 'Monumental' The Telegraph Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanted by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms - what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings. Her discovery leads Leigh to the Mojave desert and an ambitious new space agency. Drawn deeper into the agency's work, she learns that the Atlantic trench is only one of several related phenomena from across the world, each piece linking up to suggest a pattern beyond human understanding. Leigh knows that to continue working with the agency will mean leaving behind her declining mother and her younger sister, and faces an impossible choice: to remain with her family, or to embark on a journey across the breadth of the cosmos. 'Utterly compelling' The Times, Books of the Year 'Profound and thrilling' New Statesman, Books of the Year 'A far-reaching epic' Financial Times, Books of the Year Leigh Grew Up In Rotterdam, Drawn To The Waterfront As A Refuge From Her Unhappy Home Life And Volatile Father. Enchanted By The Marine World Of Her Childhood, She Excels In Postgraduate Research On Ancient Algae. When An Unfathomable Vent Appears In The Mid-atlantic Floor, Leigh Joins The Investigating Team; What She Finds There Will Change Her Life Forever. Around The Same Time, A Trio Of Engineers, Unknown To Each Other, Make A Seismic Breakthrough In Rocket Propulsion, Announcing An Almost Limitless Era Of Space Exploration. Billions Of Dollars Is Poured Into Projects, And Leigh's Classified Research On The Ocean Vent Sees Her Recruited To Develop An Experimental Food Source For Off-world Travel. From Her Base In The Mojave Desert, She's Drawn Further Into The Space Agency's Work, Where She Learns Of A Series Of Anomalies Suggesting A Beacon Sent From The Far Side Of The Solar System. In Responding To This Beacon, Leigh Embarks On A Journey That Will Take Her Across The Breadth Of The Cosmos And The Fullness Of A Single Human Life. "Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanged by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms--what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings. Her discovery leads Leigh to the Mojave desert and an ambitious new space agency. Drawn deeper into the agency's work, she learns that the Atlantic trench is only one of several related phenomena from across the world, each piece linking up to suggest a pattern beyond human understanding. Leigh knows that to continue working with the agency will mean leaving behind her declining mother and her younger sister, and she faces an impossible choice: to remain with her family, or to embark on a journey across the breadth of the cosmos."--Jacket flap 'Monumental' Telegraph 'Stellar' The Scotsman 'Magnificent' Guardian Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanted by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms - what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings. Her discovery leads Leigh to the Mojave desert and an ambitious new space agency. Drawn deeper into the agency's work, she learns that the Atlantic trench is only one of several related phenomena from across the world, each piece linking up to suggest a pattern beyond human understanding. Leigh knows that to continue working with the agency will mean leaving behind her declining mother and her... Enchanted by the undersea world of Leigh's childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms - what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings If Richard Powers had written Arrival, an astonishing novel that is set to break out Martin MacInnes as one of the most important literary voices of his generation [Bokinfo]