COMPANY OF LIARS
The US paperback edition, published by Delta on August 25th 2009, is now available from Amazon.com, from Barnes & Noble and from all good bookstores (it may help to quote the ISBN: 978-0-440244424).
UK paperback edition published by Penguin Books on 26th February 2009 (ISBN: 978-0141031910)
A special limited edition trade paperback - including an additional 'lost' chaper - was published as an exclusive from Waterstones; it is now out of print (ISBN: ISBN 978-0718-15510-0).
Company of Liars published in the US by Delacorte Press (September 2008).
Order the hardcover edition direct from the publisher
download the audiobook (read by Maxwell Caulfield),
order from Amazon.com;
or order it from your local bookstore, quoting the ISBN: 978-0-385-34169-1.
Order the UK hardback edition direct from Penguin, or from Amazon UK; or order it from a bookshop, quoting the ISBN: 978-0-7181-5322-9.
Published as an unabridged audiobook in the UK by Oakhill Publishing
on 16 cassettes (OAB 216; ISBN: 978-1-84648-490-2) or 16 CDs (OCD 216; ISBN: 978-1-84648-508-4)
Read by the actor David Thorpe, who has appeared in the Brittas Empire, Peak Practice and Jonathan Creek as well as many radio plays.
Goldsboro Books of London produce and sell special collectors editions; see their signed and numbered edition of Company of Liars. They can also supply signed copies of standard editions.
Karen Maitland explains how she came to write Company of Liars:
In 2002, I was commissioned by the National Rural Touring Company in Britain to travel for three months from Cumbria to Cornwall with a multicultural show which was performed in rural village halls. My role was to write a book about the tour.
We travelled in winter, often becoming lost in the dark country lanes. Many of the places on the tour were ancient medieval villages, and I wondered what it would have been like to earn your living on the road in the Middle Ages, cold, wet and hungry, never knowing what was waiting around the next bend...
Bad enough in normal times, but during the Black Death when any stranger coming to a village might be bringing the plague, travellers who were shunned by the community would find themselves fighting for their very lives. And so the novel Company of Liars was born...
Midsummer's Day, 1348
On this day of ill omen, plague makes its entrance. In a world ruled by faith and fear, nine desperate strangers, brought together by chance, attempt to outrun the certain death that is spreading inexorably toward them.
Each member of this motley company has a story to tell. From Camelot, the relic-seller who will become the group's leader, to Cygnus, the one-armed storyteller... from the strange, silent child called Narigorm to a painter and his pregnant wife, each has a secret. None is what they seem. And one among them conceals the darkest secret of all, propelling these liars to a destiny they never saw coming.
'Lost' chapter
The special trade paperback edition of Company of Liars (the same size as the hardback, but in soft covers) produced for Waterstone's bookshops appeared in their shops in late February, and has already sold out. So you'll have to keep your eyes open if you want to read the 'lost' chapter, specially written for that edition: it is told by the rune-reader, Narigorm, and contains a final story by one of the characters and the revelation of another secret, which up to now has remain untold. The story is complete without it, but I hope readers enjoy this 'something extra'.
Read an excerpt from Company of Liars on the Random House (Delacorte Press) web site.
Read about Company of Liars on the Penguin Books web site (with an extract, and a downloadable taster).
Company of Liars was shortlisted in the US for a Sue Feder Memorial Award for best historical mystery of 2008, one of the Macavity Awards.
Praise for Company of Liars
"A compelling and highly atmospheric twist on Dan Brown land."
Daily Mirror
"By spinning a ghostly yarn quite separate from the tale of the plague, she neatly catches the spirit of primitive superstition that governed every aspect of 14th-century life and then rolls on with it for her own story-telling ends... a richly evocative page-turner which brings to life a lost and terrible period of British history, with a disturbing final twist..."
Daily Express
"History buffs will love Maitland's innovative and captivating account of plague-ridden medieval England. ...takes you on an unforgettable journey and is a truly compelling read."
In Style UK
"...a wildly atmospheric and wonderfully gruesome adventure populated by a fascinating cast of freakish characters. ...anyone with a taste for the Gothic will revel in this colourful tale."
Metro Scotland
"Karen Maitland has dug into some obscure corners of medieval history to produce an almost parallel universe; a place where myth, magic and superstition take over as the established order breaks down, but a world that nevertheless rings true. On top of that, she has fashioned a compelling mystery story that should appeal to a much wider readership than historical fiction fans; indeed, anyone looking for an engrossing, bulky fireside read."
John Harding, Daily Mail
"Maitland writes so well that if you open the book and read any page at random turning to the next is irresistible."
Jessica Mann, Sunday Telegraph
"Runes, wolves, a mermaid, a swan-man, prejudice, deceit, betrayal and the ancient tradition of storytelling all play their part in this riveting romp through medieval England."
Sainsbury's Magazine
"Combines the storytelling traditions of The Canterbury Tales with the supernatural suspense of Mosse's Sepulchre in this atmospheric tale of treachery and magic."
Marie Clare
"Infectious, chilling, twists until the very last page"
Herald
"Atmospheric and original, a novel of suspense and terror"
Woman & Home
"Laced with the sights, sounds and smells of the fourteenth century"
The Times
"Gallops along, tautly paced... clear echoes of Chaucer and Tolkien"
New Statesman
"Original and impressive"
Bella
"Mysterious, sinister, and totally enthralling! It's the sort of book where you close the back cover and immediately open it again, hoping to find a few more pages."
Diana Gabaldon, New York Times, bestselling author of 'A Breath of Snow and Ashes'
"Transports readers back to the days of the Black Death... Paying homage to The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales, this is a gripping read... As reader you are taken as close to the plague as you would ever wish to go."
Bookseller
"A dark Canterbury Tales, this long winter's night of magical storytelling expertly blends history and mystery."
Julia Spencer-Fleming, award-winning author of 'I Shall Not Want'
"Darkly deceptive, twisting and turning and pulling you along, Company of Liars will leave you guessing until the end. Maitland creates a world that will both haunt and astonish you."
Shana Abé, bestselling author of 'Queen of Dragons'
Company of Liars is available in the following translated editions:
- The Dutch edition, Het gezelschap van leugenaars was published in 2008 by De Vliegende Hollander (scroll down to pages 8 - 12 to see what their catalogue said about it!); to order from a bookshop, quote the ISBN 978-90-495-0012-2.
- Der Fluch der Gaukler, the German edition, (translated by Karen König) is published in Germany by Fischer Verlag (ISBN: 978-3-502-18102-6);
- Маскарад лжецов, the Russian edition is published by Eksmo.
- The Spanish edition, Comitiva de embusteros is published by Ediciones Urano, under their Umbriel imprint.
- Editions Sonatine will publish La Compagnie des menteurs, translated by Fabrice Pointeau, in March 2010 (ISBN : 978-2-35584-036-4)
- Translations are also forthcoming in Romania from Editura Leda and in Greece, as 'Οι Περιπλανωμενοι ψεύτες', from Unicorn Publishing House (Monokeros Ekdotiki).
