God's own country

GrantaBest Young British Novelist

InWaterline, one of the most celebrated debut novels of recent years, Ross Raisin tells the story of solitary young farmer, Sam Marsdyke, and his extraordinary battle with the world.

Expelled from school and cut off from the town, mistrusted by his parents and avoided by city incomers, Marsdyke is a loner until he meets rebellious new neighbour Josephine. But what begins as a friendship and leads to thoughts of escape across the moors turns to something much, much darker with every step.

'Powerful, engrossing, extraordinary, sinister, comic. A masterful debut'Observer

'Astonishing, funny, unsettling ... An unforgettable creation [whose] literary forebears include Huckleberry Finn, Holden Caulfield and Alex fromA Clockwork Orange'The Times

'Remarkable, compelling, very funny and very disturbing . . . like no other character in contemporary fiction'Sunday Times

Ross Raisin was born in 1979 in West Yorkshire. His first novel,God's Own Countrywas published in 2008 and was shortlisted for nine literary awards including theGuardianFirst Book Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. In 2009 Ross Raisin was named theSunday TimesYoung Writer of the Year. He lives in London.