Oh, my goodness, this book made me realize that I need to get back to reading the dystopian genre more often. It also made me realize how I miss authors such as Orwell, Bradbury, Atwood, Suzanne Collins, and Lois Lowry in The Giver.

If a dystopian tale is told well, it simply can't be beat. The story of triplets - Vincent, Lawrence, and William - living in the English countryside care home, Captain Scott Home for Boys, had me enticed right from the beginning.

Imagine a different ending to WW II. We are now in the late 1970s, and England seems to be operating on a few of the same premises that Nazi Germany did. There are "care homes" scattered throughout the country where supposed orphans reside while being taken care of a staff of basically three women who they refer to as Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, and Mother Night. Enter a strange doctor, Dr. Roach, who visits the care homes frequently. The children in these care homes (now all entering into their early teens) have been told their entire lives that they must be kept well and all medicine given to them (pills, injections, even intravenous fluids) is to fight off "the Bug."

The problem is, the children never feel quite "well." If they do get well though, their reward is getting to go and live at Margate, which is presented as a Disney-like seaside dream. The triplets - Vincent, Lawrence, and William - are the last occupants of The Scott Home for Boys, and they want nothing more than their golden ticket to Margate, for that magical pamphlet to appear on their pillow one morning.

The plight of the boys' lives is interspersed with chapters told from the POV of Nancy, a 13 year old girl living with older parents who shelter her completely from the outside world. As these two plot lines intersect, you get to the crux of the story.

I thought it was a brilliant storyline that presented us with the ethical dilemma of good vs evil and also of nature vs nurture.

Overall, I found it fascinating. Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing - Cardinal, for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4.5 stars

1979. Lawrence, William, and Vincent are triplets, and the last remaining residents at an orphanage. The other boys have all moved on to the seaside resort of Margate. Every day, they must recite their dreams to Morning Mother. Nancy lives with her parents, and is never allowed outside. When people come to the house, they hide her in the wardrobe. Why are the boys still at the orphanage? And why the secrecy about Nancy?
I really enjoyed this book. The plot felt fresh and original, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This alternate history leaves no clear winner for WWII, so the world in 1979 is a very different place. Great Britain has orphanages with shrinking numbers of sick children being cared for in a sparse, threadbare fashion in deteriorating mansion houses. Three young boys, 13-year-old triplets, live in the Hampshire countryside taking medicine for an unnamed illness. A 13-year-old girl lives hidden and unknown by everyone but her parents.

When the triplets and the girl cross paths, and the government’s agenda seems to be against them, it seems to be a good idea to–run!

This book is a great read, I highly recommend it.

I almost gave up on this book. The first half of the book dragged on but the last 50% was very good and thought provoking. This book will stay with me a while.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing/Cardinal and NetGalley for this ARC of Catherine Chidgey's 'The Book of Guilt.'

I'm a sucker for a sad book and among other things 'The Book of Guilt' is a tremendously sad book.

In an alternative past where WWII ended very differently we reach the very tail-end of the 1970s and while in the UK not much has changed from our timeline - we have a fascistic female Prime Minister who wants to slash spending on social services while selling off the nation's built resources - there's an off-kilter feel to everything else that's described. There's an immediate post-war, austere feel to how people live. We're introduced to an almost emptied-out children's home - one of many nationwide - where the remaining residents are triplets cared for by three 'Mothers' named after their shift times. They're being cared for and medicated to counteract 'the Bug' a mystery illness that sees some children recover and be released to the children's paradise of Margate.

The new PM wants to shut these centers to save money and for other reasons that become clear and this is put in the hands of the UK's first female cabinet minister, The Minister for Loneliness.

In parallel, we're introduced to Nancy and her parents who live a confined, ritualistic life.

As the novel proceeds, both stories converge and we learn more and more and intuit more and more about who and what the children are and what's been happening for decades.

This is a story of the appropriation of the science and 'medical research' of evil men and nations by supposedly civilized nations, much like the US absorbed the Nazi rocket program almost lock, stock, and barrel after WW2, regardless of the evil they'd participated in. It's a story of utterly innocent individuals exposed to evil in the name of progress. It's apt that the children study ethics in the homes since there are multiple ethical questions we must address throughout the novel.

The revelations and outcomes are heartbreaking and enraging.

The author's use of language and dialogue has a stilted formal feel that reminds me a lot of Ramsay Campbells (though this is not in any sense a horror novel though much of it is horrific. The story itself and, again, some of the language is quite reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' though is different enough to be surprising.

Superb.

The Book of Guilt blends speculative fiction, historical coming-of-age, and literary thriller into a page-turning standout.

Set in an alternate 1970s Britain where the outcome of WWII took a different turn, the novel unfolds through three distinct perspectives. Vincent, an orphaned triplet, lives with his brothers Lawrence and William in the Sycamore Homes—government-run institutions where carers administer mysterious medications, teach from The Book of Knowledge, record dreams in The Book of Dreams, and document every misstep in The Book of Guilt.

We also meet Nancy, a young girl who lives with her parents in a quiet village but, for reasons unknown, has never stepped outside her home. The third perspective comes from the Minister of Loneliness, a government official wrestling with the morality of her assignments and the consequences of the regime’s choices.

The way these narratives slowly converge is eerie and masterfully done—I was hooked.

I loved the way the book explores complex themes like morality, ethics, the origins of evil, and nature vs. nurture. This would make an excellent book club pick; there’s so much to unpack. The writing is sharp and imaginative, with just enough breadcrumbs dropped to make you think you’re piecing it all together—right before another twist throws you off track. It’s dark, brilliant, and incredibly engaging.

This was my first Catherine Chidgey book, and definitely won’t be my last.

I can see this being a breakout hit when it publishes in September. Huge thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Cardinal Publishing Group for the gifted ARC!

This is an alternative reality of what if WW2 didn't happen how would the world be different? The government is run different and people don't know the post war world.

There is a delicious layer of foreboding and a dreamy sense of malice about this imaginative and unique book, which centers on the lives of triplets Vincent, Lawrence and William. Who are they? What are they? Chidgey has this style of writing that reveals the ridiculous inanities adults say to children ("Nancy must never be tempted to explore the loft herself, because it was a dangerous place for children and she might come to grief...." "Slowly, so she didn't come to grief, Nancy crawled across the gritty floor.") This duality, these common untruths, pile up into the greater and much more horrific lie at the center of the story.

Four stars only because I found the plot a little slow to develop (but the suspense, wow) and the final speed-up to the end a little too fast. But all in all, would highly recommend, especially for readers who enjoy speculative fiction/political commentary; ie, Klara and the Sun.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-ARC. *5 Stars*

I was immediately drawn in by the premise of the book. Essentially, no one has won World War II. Hitler is assassinated in 1942, and while the height of the war doesn't happen, many of the evils perpetrated by Nazi Germany are absorbed into culture.

We follow Vincent and his triplet brothers, William and Lawrence, who live in a group home for boys overseen by three mothers who work in 8 hour shifts: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, and Mother Night. They tend to the boys, now the only three remaining inhabitants of the house. They record their dreams in the Book of Dreams, teach them from the Book of Knowledge, and record their misdeeds in the titular Book of Guilt, as they tend to the boys who suffer from something they refer to as the "Bug."

We get two additional POVs through the book, which each on their own having compelling and fleshed out motivations and histories. Even though their portions of the book were small, they had a great impact. This is one of those books where you can't say too much without giving it all away, but I was impressed with how the story came to coalesce at the end. Each of the twists were surprising and subverted my expectations. Many of the tropes used here are done really really well, and in a way that kept me guessing.

Maybe one day I'll be able to get the UK cover of the book over here in the US because I adore it, and the US one is not great in comparison. This was a great read!

I love stories where we feel as if we are immediately part of the story. We are in the minds of our characters.
The insights that Vincent, Lawrence, and William (identical triplets raised in an orphanage) derive from their coming-of-age-journey is encouraging—while at the same time the ‘themes’ are fragile and unsettling: moral issues explored.
Ha… and a few times I thought to myself — “I wish I had had three mothers: more I wish my daughters did too”…. As it’s not easy being the ‘sole’ Mother-of-Guilt.

“The Book of Guilt” explores the nature of desire and complexity against the backdrop of immense powerful rules of limitations…
“a country ruled by a government whose aims have sinister underpinnings and alliances”.
The setting is the Hampshire countryside: 1979 England.
We are transported into a WWII alternative sci-fi …. (an alternative plot to assassinate Hitler > which worked) ….
We become privy to the inside tactics that took place in the concentration camps: dark dehumanization, etc. Haunting dystopian theories and mysteries continue to unfold throughout ….
It’s ‘kinda’ a page turning novel. I only slowed down to ‘pause’ when I was trying to figure out what was coming next on my own ( haha… fortunately unsuccessful)
Great reading experience…
….feels plausible!

Here’s a couple of sample excerpts (out of context of course):
“As little boys, when we’d ask our mothers why we couldn’t go there, they told us we were delicate; our health was delicate. If we ventured beyond our gates, we might catch something from the villagers, which could prove very dangerous indeed. So that was a rule.”
“ In 1978, everything changed: provided we were well, we could accompany our mothers when they needed to visit the bank or the Post Office, or treat themselves to the new ‘Woman’s Realm’ when they’d saved up enough money, or find us some new shoes because we were growing like vines. That was the new rule, which replaced the old rule”.

Nancy: (the young girl lives with her parents not too far from the orphanage):
“One morning, a few days after her parents had browsed through the catalogue of children, they told her a lady was coming to the house. Ladies were far more rarer than men—“
“Is something broken? Nancy asked, but her parents said no, everything was perfect”
“When the lady was due to arrive, Nancy crawled into the wardrobe with her sandwich and her mother shut the door” . . .
CURIOUS?

Enjoy!!!!
Readers *will* ENJOY!!!

Congrats to author Catherine Chidgey!! BEAUTIFULLY — SKILLFULLY written!!

know this will be a book I purchase when it comes out, even if I have to order it from abroad and pay postage and tariff: The Book of Guilt felt written for me, as though the author, Catherine Chidgey, had been privy to my longing for the sort of book that takes the reader right out and puts them high up in their own head. Everything done here is deliberate, precise, and perfect, complex and sinuous; but it’s not an uncomfortable or showy book.
Something on page one pinched my wrist, said pay attention, and I simply inhaled this book. It is a beautiful, unsettling, and deeply forlorn story where all along we know something is entirely wrong but can’t quite say what.
I am aphantasic but have synesthesia, and the physical sensation I get while reading when I think ah, I’ve sussed it! is what has me seeking out mysteries and puzzles. I thought I’d figured this out early on: that will ruin a lesser novel. I found myself wishing this were a paper copy so I could fold down corners of pages like a breadcrumb trail.
In The Book of Guilt, a quiet fascism runs like a background process, and it’s only unsettling when it steps into the tale like a dialog box: here I am. By the time the book ends, though, I felt like I – no, we – were the background process. This novel, had I read it but a year ago, might have ensnared me equally without also making me think of what we are facing here in the US in May of 2025, but I couldn’t read it without thinking of MAGA and hate and the manufacture of distraction.
I know one is expected to speak of the story. There are three blond boys, triplets, who live in a great old house with Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, Mother Night. The boys – Vincent, Lawrence, William – are all that’s left, though there used to be many more boys. All of them are under the treatment of Dr. Roach. They’re often poorly. They have dreams, and Mother Morning writes them down; when they’re bad, their misdeeds go into a book that gives the novel its title. There are – and in May, 2025 where in my city of over 100,000 people the library may go to two days a week – no books in the house save for an encyclopedia with one page torn out and a secret copy of Ulysses belonging to Mother Night. This, by the way, of everything wrong in the story, was the thing that everything else pinwheeled around for me.
There is a change in government, a new Prime Minister, and because of an unspecified incident at another home for children with their own Mothers Morning, Afternoon, Night, change is coming. We meet the most sympathetic fascist possible, the Minister of Loneliness. She brings the news, she is the news. Vincent, who gives us the story, and his brothers – all the children in what is called the Sycamore Program – will be placed with families. The homes they live in will be closed.
Running smaller and less interesting at first, parallel like a towpath along a canal, we get a girl named Nancy who lives with her mother and father in a house it seems she has never left.
How their stories intersect is brilliant and wickedly crafted; where this book starts and where it winds up are so believable that one forgets it is set in an alternate timeline. This timeline, where an undelineated truce brought a different end to the Second World War, is so tangential, a watercolor wash, incidental until it is decidedly not. Chidgey took on a plot as fragile as a card tower, and it never falls. There are so many books that have attempted what she does here and not quite succeeded. I give Chidgey, and The Book of Guilt, the highest praise I can: this novel provided me with the experience I had as a child, of reading and being entirely removed from myself and all around me. Please, please buy this book, share this book, and – as I know I shall – think about and reread this book.
I recommend it to readers who like to be unsettled: I was reminded at times of all these: Robert Aickman, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, Robert C. O’Brien, and Kazuo Ishiguro. I think this would be excellent reading for a ninth grade English class – it is more subtle (and far better written) than Lord of the Flies, and belongs on a classroom shelf with Of Mice and Men, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Fahrenheit 451, and Never Let Me Go.
I received a copy of The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In 1979 and we follow 3 triplet boys being raised in an orphanage by 3 attendants known to them as Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother evening. In this alternate history the plot to assassinate Hitler has succeeded and peace negotiations with Germany are successful. Now that the world is united in peace again all the experimentation that took place in concentration camps is now being shared. Dark, disturbing, and a bit haunting. This gives Science Fictions vibes with an alternate history twist that leans into a haunting dystopian feel. It was an interesting read with some heavy issues. Overall a good read.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Reader, I had not.

The Book of Guilt is one of the most masterful, GENUINELY unsettling novels I've read in years. From the first page, there's a creeping and growing sense that something so evil and so sinister is lurking right under the surface of the plot. Chidgey does an exceptional job of doling out the revelations with such perfect timing and control that you're both dying to know but also terrified to find out. The mystery unravels exactly when it should, never a moment too soon, making for an incredibly stressful read (complimentary).

Absolutely nailed it, totally stuck the landing. All the rumors about this book are true and all the hype is deserved. People will say this is a top read of 2025 and I agree.

This book was incredible. I had to sit for a long time after I finished The Book of Guilt just to try and process what I’d read. This book is incredibly nuanced and it reads like a part alternative historical fiction/SciFi/thriller/coming of age/lesson in morality. It’s an addictive read but not an easy one by any means because there is so much to unpack. Well worth your time, definitely add this to your TBR.


Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC!