Midwinter in the early years of this century. A teenage girl on holiday has gone missing in the hills at the heart of England. The villagers are called up to join the search, fanning out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks and a crowd of news reporters descends on their usually quiet home.

Meanwhile, there is work that must still be done: cows milked, fences repaired, stone cut, pints poured, beds made, sermons written, a pantomime rehearsed.

The search for the missing girl goes on, but so does everyday life. As it must.

An extraordinary novel of cumulative power and grace, Reservoir 13 explores the rhythms of the natural world and the repeated human gift for violence, unfolding over thirteen years as the aftershocks of a stranger’s tragedy refuse to subside.

WINNER OF THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE

‘A rare and dazzling feat of art’ George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo

‘McGregor writes with such grace and precision, with love even, about who and where we are, that he leaves behind all other writers of his generation’ Sarah Hall, author of The Wolf Border

‘Reservoir 13 is quite extraordinary – the way it’s structured, the way it rolls, the skill with which Jon McGregor lets the characters breathe and age’ Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha