David Bridger

fugue

When Kate Richards inherits an English country estate from the grandfather she never knew, she soon realises there is more to the bequest than property. She also inherits an entire new family of hostile strangers, mysterious Romany tenants, and a magical gift she calls the 'net'.

The net looks like a web of gossamer threads connecting everything. It is the system of relationships between cells, and the building material of the universe. Few people are gifted with the ability to see it and even fewer can manipulate it to bring about change.

Isolated and shunned by those who believe her family to be evil, assaulted by strange sensations and visions from the past, and questioning her sanity, Kate is drawn to the only person who seems to understand what she is going through: the Romany street artist, Joe.

Together they uncover a dangerous secret, and Kate realises she will need to master the net quickly if she is to free her family from tyranny and save her own life.

"fugue is a very interesting read, not quite like anything I've ever read before, and I enjoyed it a lot. I particularly like the characterisation - every single person has enough complexity to be interesting to read about. I laughed about some and became very fond of others. You have a good sense of setting too, which is important to me - I have a very visual imagination and I'm always disappointed when there's nothing at all to give me an idea of a scene. In this story I could really picture the house and its grounds as they'd been at various times. Plants and nature seem to be a constant theme, and I like that. The whole concept of the net is intriguing."
Kate Macfadyen. Devon, UK

"fugue is a brilliant story and a compelling read. I love it! You are a genius."
Jemima Jarvis. Illinois, USA

"I really enjoyed fugue. It reminded me of the sweeping family sagas like Cashelmara by Susan Howatch, mixed with a little of the fantasy of Gwyneth Jones, who I adore for her mix of magic and plausible reality. I like your main character, and the way you make some otherwise unpleasant characters likeable, or at least memorable, by exploring them from their own perspectives and others. I've read published fiction I've been much less impressed with."
C Harris. Yorkshire, UK

"From the first few words, fugue took me right in and I didn't want to put it down for fear of the story going on without me. The characters were really well-rounded and even the despicable ones, I had trouble disliking completely. I was brought into the story so much, that I thought about the characters for days after I'd reached the end."
Coralie Amato. Brisbane, Australia

"Not many books I read make it onto my book case to keep (maybe 1 out of 40), but fugue most certainly would! I loved it. It broke the rules that most books follow, and I couldn't second guess or know what would come next.

"By the end I feel I have met so many characters and seen into their lives. And that feeling after you finish a book, where the story lingers in your soul? It's still there, as it will be until I fall asleep tonight. I smiled, I cried - had all the emotions going!

"So much better than a lot of books I've read recently with rave reviews. I run a local book club and I know everyone in the group would love it too.

"It completely cast its net over me."

V Stephens. Gloucester, UK

fugue is my first novel. I am seeking a literary agent to represent me.

I'm told authors don't have much influence over the choice of cover art, and I'm fine with that because publishers know more about marketing than I ever will. This is simply the design I had in mind while I wrote the story.