From the bestselling author of The Midnight Library, an “irresistible...full of clever turns, darkly hilarious spins...Even if you're suffering from vampire fatigue...The Radleys is a fun, fresh contribution to the genre” (Associated Press).
Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives.
One night, Clara finds herself driven to commit a shocking—and disturbingly satisfying—act of violence, and her parents are forced to explain their history of shadows and lies. A police investigation is launched that uncovers a richness of vampire history heretofore unknown to the general public. And when the malevolent and alluring Uncle Will, a practicing vampire, arrives to throw the police off Clara’s trail, he winds up throwing the whole house into temptation and turmoil and unleashing a host of dark secrets that threaten the Radleys’ marriage.
The Radleys is a moving, thrilling, and radiant domestic novel that explores with daring the lengths a parent will go to protect a child, what it costs you to deny your identity, the undeniable appeal of sin, and the everlasting, iridescent bonds of family love. Read it and ask what we grow into when we grow up, and what we gain—and lose—when we deny our appetites.
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"I really liked this one. It was funny but dark, and there was more to it than I first expected. It's not your average vampire book, but it's not Twilight either. I think Haig did a great job, and I highly recommend it! "
— Vicki (4 out of 5 stars)
“Funny, scary, and wickedly familiar.”
— Alfonso Cuarón, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men“Haig has managed to coax something delightfully new from a saturated genre…Nifty revelations [become] an enjoyably twisty and self-aware tale. Haig combines strong dialogue with a healthy sense of self-parody in a novel that should appeal to all vampire fans, whatever their age.”
— Metro (London), 4-star review“Delightfully eccentric comedy about a family of suburban undead…a strangely moving portrait of a marriage in which both partners are compelled to deny their own instincts and longings.”
— Financial Times“The Radleys is, first and foremost, the remarkable story of a family, born of denial and deceit, learning to tell the truth. That the family in question happens to be undead is secondary, because in Matt Haig’s masterly hands vampirism is much more than blood lust. It is a yearning for love, truth, passion, and authentic connection.”
— Allison Burnett, author of Undiscovered Gyrl" Not your typical vampire novel! Very good, very fun, slightly dark. Will look for Haig's other works now! "
— Jenn, 5/28/2011" Though I am suffering from vampire (and witch, and werewolf) fatigue, I found this novel about abstaining vampires very enjoyable. "
— Julie, 5/25/2011" Not as fluffy as I expected it to be, and a better read for it. "
— Amanda, 5/24/2011" Easy read, felt like a vampire version of a Nick Hornby novel. "
— Jamie, 5/22/2011" Great contemporary take on the Vampire genre. "
— Carolyn, 5/17/2011" quick read. more gory than i prefer, but interesting story. it did feel like i was reading a screenplay (as in: the story seemed to follow a basic movie plot template). "
— Ann, 5/5/2011" I really liked this book, different twist on the regular vampire stories : ) "
— Marcia, 5/4/2011Matt Haig writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, including four series, eleven stand-alone novels, novellas, short stories, and a memoir. His Shadow Forest, aka Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest, won the 2009 Blue Peter Book Award for Book of the Year.