The Noise of Time

"We're going to be fine." He looks around, but there's nothing out here: nothing but the bottomless black universe on their left, the Earth suspended in glorious technicolour to their right. Carys and Max have ninety minutes of air left. None of this was supposed to happen. Adrift in space with nothing to hold on to but each other, Carys and Max can't help but look back at the world they left behind. A world whose rules they couldn't submit to, a place where they never really belonged; a home they're determined to get back to because they've come too far to lose each other now. Hold Back the Stars is a love story like no other. "Prepare to shed tears" Heat "Original, surprising and romantic" Woman' Home "Breaks your heart, then kicks it a few more times for good measure in the most beautiful way possible" The Pool "A high-stakes, high-concept love story from a bold new talent ... All of the obvious "out of this world" comments apply." -- Matt Haig, author of The Humans "Think Gravity meets The Versions of Us" Red

"A great novel, Barnes's masterpiece... Exquisite, intimate detail. He has given us a novel that is powerfully affecting, a condensed masterpiece that traces the lifelong battle of one man's conscience, one man's art, with the insupportable exigencies of totalitarianism." Alex Preston Observer