Little Egypt was once a well-to-do country house in the north of England. Now it s derelict and trapped on a small island of land between a railway, a dual carriageway and a superstore, and although it looks deserted it isn t. Nonagenarian twins, Isis and Osiris, still live in the home they were born in, and from which in the 1920 s their obsessive Egyptologist parents left them to search for the fabled tomb of Herihor a search from which they never returned. Isis and Osiris have stayed in the house, guarding a terrible secret, for all their long lives until chance meeting between Isis and young American anarchist Spike, sparks an unlikely friendship and proves a catalyst for change.
‘Eerily atmospheric Little Egypt, made me shudder; certain passages were read through half-closed eyes, the way you watch grisly scenes in a film — desperate to know what happens, but not wanting to disturbing images imprinted on your mind.’
— Rosemary Goring, The Herald
‘Glaister’s greatest success in Little Egypt is in her pacing and her use of language to obscure change; through effortless and consistently engaging prose, Isis’s transformation, the degradation of the house, the growing panic over her parents’ prolonged absence, and the book’s more sinister themes, all emerge discreetly.’
— Claire Kohda Hazelton, TLS
