The Book of Guilt Audiobook By Catherine Chidgey cover art

The Book of Guilt

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The Book of Guilt

By: Catherine Chidgey
Narrated by: George Naylor, Alison Campbell
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England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government's Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.

Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams.

Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge.

And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.

All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.

Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a profoundly unnerving exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.

©2025 Catherine Chidgey (P)2025 W.F. Howes Ltd Alternate History Dystopian Science Fiction
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Whoa, the Book of Guilt is one of the most unsettling and original novels I’ve ever read! What a slow-burning, deeply layered dystopian story that creeps under your skin and gets you in a chokehold of anxiety before you realize just how far you’ve sunk into a deep sense of dread. Simply chilling from start to finish!

Chidgey crafted an alternate timeline that was surreal yet believable. From the opening page, I felt instantly dropped into something definitely sinister… a tightly controlled alternate Britain where some children are raised in Sycamore Homes, cared for by women known only as Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, and Mother Night. The boys’ lives are strictly regimented: their dreams are recorded, their sins are written down in the “Book of Guilt,” and they are taught from the “Book of Knowledge”. They’re also given daily medication to protect them from something called The Bug. Chidgey never over-explains, the horror veeeeeerrrrryyyy slowly unfolds.

It’s hard to describe the atmosphere of this book without giving too much away, but it reminded me why I love speculative fiction. It unnerves and disorients - and I was uncomfortable from the first page to the last, finishing the novel with a multitude of moral delimmas to think about and unpack.

The writing was sophisticated and elegant, but not dense. It was intellectual, not gimmick-y. The tension was psychological and layered. It reminded me of why I tend to avoid mainstream thrillers: I find most of them shallow, predictable, or overly reliant on tropes. This book, by contrast, is closer to the literary suspense of The Silent Patient or If We Were Villains — except sharper, more original, and more honestly, devastating.

For most of the book, I was ready to call this a 4.5 or even 4.75 star read. The pacing worked for me, even though very slow. The slow pace I feel was necessary, as it makes the reader so immersed in the eerie, claustrophobic setting and the slow creep of dread. I loved the speculative elements, the ethical questions, the emotional ambiguity.

Though imperfect (the ending left a bit to be desired in terms of character arcs) this is still one of the best books I’ve read in 2025. A chilling, elegant, and intellectually rewarding novel that left me rattled and very reflective… Just speculative fiction at its finest…literary, atmospheric, character-driven, and unsettling in all the right ways.

Highly, highly recommend for readers who want suspense that’s smart, lush and psychological.

SO good! Haunting and immersive

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If you liked Never Let Me Go, you'll probably like this one. I did.

Very slow burn but if you like the voice of the narrator (Vincent), you won't lose interest. The other narrator is Nancy, whose story is rather interesting.

Good read--heavy on the Never Let Me Go vibes

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