A Scientific Romance: A Novel

It is 1999, and David Lambert, jilted lover and museum curator, is about to discover the startling news of the return of H. G. Wells’ time machine to London. Motivated by a host of unanswered questions and innate curiosity, Lambert propels himself deep into the next millennium. As he sets foot in the luxuriant but menacing new landscape, he soon begins to explore the ruins of his life, a labyrinth of erotic obsession and remorse involving his old friend Bird, and Anita—the beautiful, eccentric Egyptologist they both loved, mysteriously dead at thirty-two. A Scientific Romance is a book of surpassing creativity and intelligence, as evocative as it is cautionary.

Honours

David Higham Prize
Editor’s Choice: The New York Times
A Book of the Year: Globe and Mail
A Book of the Year: The Sunday Times
A Book of the Year: The New York Times

Reviews

“An elegant novel…gripping and lyrical; you struggle to slow down but find yourself rushing forward.”
The New Yorker

“A triumph… J.G. Ballard explored this same territory in his disaster novels…but never with Wright’s psychological insight or pathos.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The most apocalyptic dystopia since Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, achieving the same eerie fascination and consistent believability… In 100 years’ time this book should be a classic.”
Tom Shakespeare, Guardian

“Pure pleasure… deeply seductive and brilliantly sustained… A compelling cultural satire.”
Julie Myerson, Observer

“Powerful…cunningly fashioned… The novel works on all levels [and] its flair for description can be positively Dickensian. The result is a fresh take on an old formula—the dystopian post-apocalypse novel—and a profound meditation on the nature of time.”
John Vernon, New York Times Book Review

“Wright has come up with a treasure, a delightfully witty and suspenseful fantasy — in the rip-roaring tradition of the masters.”
Alberto Manguel, Globe and Mail

“There is teeming life on every page of this remarkable novel… Themes are brilliantly adduced… Absorbing, dynamic, intricately clever.”
Rachelle Thackray, Independent on Sunday

“A powerful visionary core… few writers have imagined the future with such compelling and tragic urgency.”
Maclean’s

“[A] virtuoso performance, an audacious leap into the unknown… This is an extraordinary novel, a brilliant synthesis of interpretive and imaginative elements, and, like the best fiction, a trenchant commentary on reality.”
Financial Post

“Dazzling… A Scientific Romance [is] poetic, sexy, satirical… layered with rich bits from the author’s well-stocked mind.”
Globe and Mail

“Cool, clever, and unsettling.”
Bulletin

“A magnificent achievement.”
New Zealand Herald

“A clever and elegant novel.”
Philip Hensher, Sunday Mail

“Keeps the reader hooked… An accomplished performance.”
John Sutherland, Independent

“Ambitious and entertaining… a heady mix of love story, prediction, satire and lyrical adventure.”
Sunday Times

“Compelling…. Clearly there is a powerful environmentalist message to the novel, but Wright has constructed a narrative strong enough to carry it without strain…. [His] description of a deserted London overgrown with tropical vegetation is unforgettable.”
Toronto Star

Publishers in English: Picador USA; Knopf Canada; Anchor (UK & Australia)
Foreign editions in French, German, Polish, Croatian.