The Night Rainbow

A powerful debut about grief and salvation, told from the perspective of one little girl with a valiant imagination.

It is summer in the south of France, and Pea and her little sister Margot spend their days running free, inventing games in the meadow behind their house. But Pea has worries beyond her five and a half years. Her father has died in an accident, and her mother has just lost a baby. Maman is English, already isolated in this small, foreign village, and in her compounded grief, she has retreated even further. Pea and Margot stay out of her way and try to make things better, but they can’t make Maman happy again.

When Pea befriends Claude, a man who seems to love the meadow as she does, she wonders if he could be a new papa. But why do the other villagers view Claude with suspicion, and what secrets does his large, empty house hold?

Beautifully written, haunting, and full of surprises, The Night Rainbow is a novel about innocence and experience, grief and compassion, and the blessings and perils of imagination.

Claire King was born in England, educated at Cambridge, and is the fiction editor for The View from Here magazine. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the BBC’s Opening Lines program and the Bristol Short Story Prize. She lives in the south of France with her husband and two children. This is her first novel.

National print and online media campaign

Social media campaign: early excerpts and giveaways

Digital assets: author Q&A, essays

Coverage in literary publications and websites