As society reels from worldwide gas attacks, fuelled by a mysterious viral figure known as 'the Gardener', data scientist Bronte and her colleagues – boss Henry Stokenchurch, his wayward son Mallory, acid-tongued procurer Florian, and two ex-military bodyguards – race to The Golden House, an opulent bunker built for the superrich to shelter from the apocalypse.But salvation is not what it seems, as Wilder, the visionary tech mogul behind the bunker, rules over a draconian social order. While upstairs the elite still live with the decadence of Roman emperors, downstairs their support staff toil to keep the apocalypse from the door – and outside, a roving band of violent survivalists lay siege.In this fortress for the end of days, survival is just the beginning. The real question is who do we become when the old world dies?PRAISE FOR THE GHOST THEATRE (A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE EVENING STANDARD, OBSERVER and THE TIMES)'Beautifully written and completely convincing' OBSERVER'An excellent novel - riotous and abundant, full of vivid, dirty life' GUARDIAN'Hauntingly beautiful . Thrilling and thought-provoking' INDEPENDENT
Mat Osman is the bassist and founder member of iconic British rock band Suede and a composer of music for TV and films. He also worked as a culture journalist during the noughties, writing about art and travel for papers, magazines and online. His debut novel, The Ghost Theatre, was published in 2023 and was a Book of the Year for The Times, the Observer and the Evening Standard.
As society reels from worldwide gas attacks, fuelled by a mysterious viral figure known as 'the Gardener', data scientist Bronte and her colleagues – boss Henry Stokenchurch, his wayward son Mallory, acid-tongued procurer Florian, and two ex-military bodyguards – race to The Golden House, an opulent bunker built for the superrich to shelter from the apocalypse.But salvation is not what it seems, as Wilder, the visionary tech mogul behind the bunker, rules over a draconian social order. While upstairs the elite still live with the decadence of Roman emperors, downstairs their support staff toil to keep the apocalypse from the door – and outside, a roving band of violent survivalists lay siege.In this fortress for the end of days, survival is just the beginning. The real question is who do we become when the old world dies?PRAISE FOR THE GHOST THEATRE (A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE EVENING STANDARD, OBSERVER and THE TIMES)'Beautifully written and completely convincing' OBSERVER'An excellent novel - riotous and abundant, full of vivid, dirty life' GUARDIAN'Hauntingly beautiful . Thrilling and thought-provoking' INDEPENDENT
Mat Osman is the bassist and founder member of iconic British rock band Suede and a composer of music for TV and films. He also worked as a culture journalist during the noughties, writing about art and travel for papers, magazines and online. His debut novel, The Ghost Theatre, was published in 2023 and was a Book of the Year for The Times, the Observer and the Evening Standard.