My second novel, published by Fourth Estate and HarperPerennial,
and recently reissued.
Young protagonist Fanny Newlove moves to Margate with her family in 1835. The discovery
of an underground shell grotto in their new back garden is a catalyst for the unravelling of Fanny's world, as childhood
secrets are replaced by adult intrigues and ruthless profiteering.
'The Realm of Shells has that stamp of energy and originality which marks out Sonia
Overall as extremely unusual and talented' Margaret
Forster
'confident and vividly energetic in a way that is entirely captivating... I cannot recommend this
novel too highly' Daily Telegraph
'...Fanny's
voice, full of onomatopoeic accounts of household noise and incident, is thoroughly engaging' D.J. Taylor, Independant
'this pre-Victorian, pre-Industrial world is
beautifully evoked and recounted by Fanny, with the same deftness of Harper Lee's Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird' Scotland on Sunday
'remarkable... it takes
a writer of rare ability to produce a novel as good as this'
Glasgow Herald
'Fanny proves an engaging and perceptive heroine... Overall writes movingly' Sunday Times
'a poignant, powerful novel' Big Issue
buy The Realm of Shells online
visit the real Margate Shell Grotto
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