The Echoes

A Novel

Author Evie Wyld
$28.00 US
Knopf
12 per carton
On sale Feb 18, 2025 | 9781101871904
Sales rights: US,CAN,OpnMkt(no EU)
From the award-winning novelist, a ravishing new novel set between London and rural Australia, both a love story and a ghost story

Max didn’t believe in an afterlife. Until he died. Now, as a reluctant ghost trying to work out why he is still here, he watches his girlfriend, Hannah, lost in grief in the apartment they shared and begins to realize how much of her life was invisible to him.

In the weeks and months before Max’s death, Hannah was haunted by the secrets she left Australia to escape. A relationship with Max seemed to offer the potential of a fresh new chapter, but the past refused to stay hidden. It found expression in the untold stories of the people she grew up with, and the events that broke her family apart and led her to Max.

Both a celebration and an autopsy of a relationship, and spanning multiple generations, The Echoes is a novel about love and grief, motherhood and sisterhood, secrets and who has the right to reveal them—what of our past can be cast away and what is fixed forever, echoing down through the years.
“Compulsively readable . . . The wit of Evie Wyld is on sparkling display . . . Wyld is in complete control of each timeframe and narrative vantage point . . . She is an expert at withholding information until it can be delivered with maximum impact.” ―Tobias Grey, Financial Times

“Wyld has always excelled at tension and pace, and the scattered puzzle pieces drop into place with both a feeling of horror and a strange kind of satisfaction . . . Yet as well as terror The Echoes is also suffused with love . . . It is also—and this is important—a deeply funny book . . . The last, lingering voices in the novel hint at healing—and at hope.” ―Melissa Harrison, The Guardian

"The Echoes is a cleverly crafted novel . . . . A masterly achievement, a work of skill and subtle empathy that really earns our attention.” The Sunday Times


“Wyld has always been in a category of her own, but this is stranger, darker and more brilliant than anything she’s written before . . . This is a book that will stay with you for ever―both intimate and extraordinarily ambitious.” ―Alex Preston, The Observer (Fiction to look out for in 2024)

“Powerful. . . . As ever, Wyld handles multiple narratives with impressive dexterity. . . . There’s a deeply satisfying tension. . . . In this gripping, upsetting but ultimately hopeful novel, Wyld’s voice rings true.” ―Emily Rhodes, Spectator

"Hauntingly good. . . . Wyld is a gifted writer: the fluidity with which she moves between perspectives; the way the novel coalesces in the final stages; the acerbic banter. . . . Wyld is expert at depicting shifting and unruly emotions." Gretchen Shirm, The Australian
 
“Engaging. . . . Beautifully written. . . . She is a writer of substance, whose mixed heritage has served her well in her storytelling, allowing her to explore the world and its people from different perspectives. The Echoes will surely add to her growing reputation.” John Boyne, Irish Times

“Unsettling, vivid, and beautifully written.” ―Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

The Echoes is a gorgeous, wise, furious meditation on the ways in which we carry both love and pain across decades and hemispheres. Each new layer is a revelation of compassion and understanding. Wyld is brilliant on girlhood, on grief, on intimacy’s terrible costs and its funny, messy grace. This is a jewel of a novel.” ―Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest

“A stunning, immersive work of sharp prose, weaving intergenerational trauma and a ghost story and the complexities of love and families. Wyld gets better with each novel.” ―Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations

“It takes brilliance and verve to leap into the darkness as Evie Wyld does here. What a discovery—this is the first book of her books I have read; it will certainly not be the last.” —Anne Enright, Booker Prize–winning author of The Gathering

“I’ve loved all of Evie Wyld’s novels, but I think this may be my favourite. Like all the best ghost stories, The Echoes is also a love story. It’s funny and moving and has such intelligent things to say about family, about shared histories and grief and the ways people find to heal themselves.” —Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

“A strange and wondrous novel, my book of the year by a mile. Wyld is a literary magician, doing more in the space of a few pages than many authors manage over the course of their careers.” —Alex Preston, author of In Love and War
 
“A story about humans as they are—complicated bundles of pain, love, cruelty, cowardice, tenderness, bravery, loyalty. When the world is encouraging us to see each other as one-dimensional, complex characters like those in The Echoes are necessary. And on top of all that Wyld is funny.” —Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You

“I loved this book. Evie Wyld moves effortlessly through times, places and people with a relentless, brutal, compassionate attention. I am in awe of her control over detail, emotion, and plot—and the way she shows us how we understand the personal through the local and the historical.” —Jenn Ashworth, author of Ghosted: A Love Story

“A brilliant, satisfying novel that explores flinty and essential truths about love and loss. Full of complex, believable characters and grounded in the mysteries and frustrations of the living and the dead. Flawlessly written, intriguing and ambitious. It moved me very much.” —Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

About

From the award-winning novelist, a ravishing new novel set between London and rural Australia, both a love story and a ghost story

Max didn’t believe in an afterlife. Until he died. Now, as a reluctant ghost trying to work out why he is still here, he watches his girlfriend, Hannah, lost in grief in the apartment they shared and begins to realize how much of her life was invisible to him.

In the weeks and months before Max’s death, Hannah was haunted by the secrets she left Australia to escape. A relationship with Max seemed to offer the potential of a fresh new chapter, but the past refused to stay hidden. It found expression in the untold stories of the people she grew up with, and the events that broke her family apart and led her to Max.

Both a celebration and an autopsy of a relationship, and spanning multiple generations, The Echoes is a novel about love and grief, motherhood and sisterhood, secrets and who has the right to reveal them—what of our past can be cast away and what is fixed forever, echoing down through the years.

Praise

“Compulsively readable . . . The wit of Evie Wyld is on sparkling display . . . Wyld is in complete control of each timeframe and narrative vantage point . . . She is an expert at withholding information until it can be delivered with maximum impact.” ―Tobias Grey, Financial Times

“Wyld has always excelled at tension and pace, and the scattered puzzle pieces drop into place with both a feeling of horror and a strange kind of satisfaction . . . Yet as well as terror The Echoes is also suffused with love . . . It is also—and this is important—a deeply funny book . . . The last, lingering voices in the novel hint at healing—and at hope.” ―Melissa Harrison, The Guardian

"The Echoes is a cleverly crafted novel . . . . A masterly achievement, a work of skill and subtle empathy that really earns our attention.” The Sunday Times


“Wyld has always been in a category of her own, but this is stranger, darker and more brilliant than anything she’s written before . . . This is a book that will stay with you for ever―both intimate and extraordinarily ambitious.” ―Alex Preston, The Observer (Fiction to look out for in 2024)

“Powerful. . . . As ever, Wyld handles multiple narratives with impressive dexterity. . . . There’s a deeply satisfying tension. . . . In this gripping, upsetting but ultimately hopeful novel, Wyld’s voice rings true.” ―Emily Rhodes, Spectator

"Hauntingly good. . . . Wyld is a gifted writer: the fluidity with which she moves between perspectives; the way the novel coalesces in the final stages; the acerbic banter. . . . Wyld is expert at depicting shifting and unruly emotions." Gretchen Shirm, The Australian
 
“Engaging. . . . Beautifully written. . . . She is a writer of substance, whose mixed heritage has served her well in her storytelling, allowing her to explore the world and its people from different perspectives. The Echoes will surely add to her growing reputation.” John Boyne, Irish Times

“Unsettling, vivid, and beautifully written.” ―Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

The Echoes is a gorgeous, wise, furious meditation on the ways in which we carry both love and pain across decades and hemispheres. Each new layer is a revelation of compassion and understanding. Wyld is brilliant on girlhood, on grief, on intimacy’s terrible costs and its funny, messy grace. This is a jewel of a novel.” ―Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest

“A stunning, immersive work of sharp prose, weaving intergenerational trauma and a ghost story and the complexities of love and families. Wyld gets better with each novel.” ―Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations

“It takes brilliance and verve to leap into the darkness as Evie Wyld does here. What a discovery—this is the first book of her books I have read; it will certainly not be the last.” —Anne Enright, Booker Prize–winning author of The Gathering

“I’ve loved all of Evie Wyld’s novels, but I think this may be my favourite. Like all the best ghost stories, The Echoes is also a love story. It’s funny and moving and has such intelligent things to say about family, about shared histories and grief and the ways people find to heal themselves.” —Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

“A strange and wondrous novel, my book of the year by a mile. Wyld is a literary magician, doing more in the space of a few pages than many authors manage over the course of their careers.” —Alex Preston, author of In Love and War
 
“A story about humans as they are—complicated bundles of pain, love, cruelty, cowardice, tenderness, bravery, loyalty. When the world is encouraging us to see each other as one-dimensional, complex characters like those in The Echoes are necessary. And on top of all that Wyld is funny.” —Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You

“I loved this book. Evie Wyld moves effortlessly through times, places and people with a relentless, brutal, compassionate attention. I am in awe of her control over detail, emotion, and plot—and the way she shows us how we understand the personal through the local and the historical.” —Jenn Ashworth, author of Ghosted: A Love Story

“A brilliant, satisfying novel that explores flinty and essential truths about love and loss. Full of complex, believable characters and grounded in the mysteries and frustrations of the living and the dead. Flawlessly written, intriguing and ambitious. It moved me very much.” —Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti