The End of Mr Y [Paperback]

"Ingenious and original... A cracking good yarn fizzing with intelligence." Philip Pullman "The End of Mr. Y is a masterpiece... A brilliant, engaging story that in the end makes you rethink the nature of existence and the true structure of the world." Douglas Coupland "One of the most exciting novels I have read in recent years." Jonathan Coe "Mindboggling brainy and playful The End of Mr Y deserves to make [Scarlett Thomas] better known at last." Independent on Sunday "Smart, stylish and dizzying... with a breakneck thriller of a plot... should appeal to a wide popular audience." New York Times Book Review"

'Ingenious and original . . . A cracking good yarn fizzing with
intelligence.'

'A masterpiece . . . A brilliant, engaging story that in the end
makes you rethink the nature of existence and the true structure of the
world.'

'Deserves all the praise it has already received and much more . .
. Destined to become a cult book.'

'Utter enchantment.'

'Thomas pulls off this intellectual rollercoaster of a novel with dry humour and panache'

'Enjoyable bunkum, as brainy as it is fantastical...Thomas has produced a contemporary fantasy novel worth reading.'

When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of "The End of Mr Y" in a second-hand bookshop, she can't believe her eyes. She's read about its author before, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, and this is his most notorious, and rarest, book. It is also believed to hold a curse. Anyone who's ever read it, including Lumas, has disappeared without trace.With "Mr Y" under her arm, Ariel is thrust into an adventure of faith, physics, love, death, and everything in between.Part gothic mystery, part time-travelling love story, "The End of Mr Y" lies somewhere between "Shadow of the Wind" and "Dr Who". Scarlett Thomas sends us on a wild and irresistible quest into our deepest selves and our biggest questions.

Scarlett Thomas was born in London in 1972. Her previous novels include Bright Young Things, Going Out and PopCo. In 2001 she was included in the Independent on Sunday's list of the UK's 20 best young writers, and in 2002 she won an Elle Style Award. She currently teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Kent.