The Life and Death of Sophie Stark Anna North

‘If The Girl on the Train was the woman of 2015, then Sophie Stark is this year’s model. Anna North’s novel, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, has been a hit in America, with Lena Dunham describing its protagonist as a “totally unforgettable female antihero”. Out now – soon every girl on every train will be reading it’ Sunday Times

Who is the real Sophie Stark?

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is the story of an enigmatic film director, told by the six people who loved her most. Brilliant, infuriating, all-seeing and unknowable, Sophie Stark makes films said to be ‘more like life than life itself’. But her genius comes at a terrible cost: to her husband, to the brother she left behind, and to an actress who knows too much.

With shades of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, A Visit from the Goon Squad and Where’d You Go, Bernadette, it combines a uniquely appealing sensibility with a compulsively page-turning plot.

‘Thriller-paced, with mysteries revealed at every turn. The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark, a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations and suffers deeply for it’ Lena Dunham

‘North is a natural, butter-smooth storyteller’ Maggie Shipstead, author of SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

‘I read THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story’ Emma Donoghue, author of ROME

‘Jennifer Egan, eat your heart out’ Sam Baker

‘A captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman. It’s a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy and meditates on the ethics involved in film-making and storytelling’ THE INDEPENDENT

‘Gripping and graceful’ THE GUARDIAN

‘The year’s must read’ GLAMOUR