LONDON, 1881.
Thereâs something a little eerie about Manonâsheâs not like the other girls at the orphanage. Maybe itâs her red eyes. Maybe itâs her silence. Maybe itâs the series of violent deaths that seem to follow her.
What we do know: Someone is hot on her tail. And thereâs a lot of money at stake in finding out where exactly she comes fromâand what exactly she is.
Alongside Manonâs story are letters to Charles Darwin from Professor Humphrey, a scientist who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Is it true that natural selection left humans at the top of the pyramid of life after all? Or, in the
process of evolution, was there something elemental that humans lost, something that connected us to the rest of life on earth? Who and what else is out there?
In order to stay alive, Manon must untangle the mystery of her origins, and perhaps the origins of humanity as well.
From French writer Alice BriĂšre-Haquet and translated by PEN-award winning translator Emma Ramadan comes Phalainaâthe historical sci-fi thriller you wonât soon forget.