Blasphemer, The

Description: He had always been scared of flying. Now, the fear is real. A plane crash. The water is rising over his mouth. In his nostrils. Lungs. As Daniel gasps, he swallows; and punches at his seat-belt. Nancy, the woman he loves, is trapped in her seat. He clambers over her, pushing her face into the headrest. It is a reflex, visceral action made without rational thought...But Daniel Kennedy did it. And already we have judged him from the comfort of our own lives. Almost a hundred years earlier, Daniel's great-grandfather goes over the top at Passchendaele. A shell explodes, and he wakes up alone and lost in the hell of no-man's-land. Where are the others? Has he been left behind? And if he doesn't find his unit, is he a deserter? Love; cowardice; trust; forgiveness. How will any of us behave when we are pushed to extremes? Prizes: Shortlisted for Costa Novel Award 2010. Author Biography: Nigel Farndale was born and raised in the Yorkshire Dales where he farmed with his father and grandfather, a veteran of the Trenches. He is the author of Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce, a biography shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He now lives on the Hampshire-Sussex border with his wife and their three children.