As a portrait of youthful mistakes and adult blindness, THE YOUNG ACCOMPLICE is both tender and cutting..." - The Guardian It is not really possible to describe this novel without spoilers so I'll leave it with the above except for some thoughts about its title. The ecliptic is, in my opinion, a metaphor for the way artists need to see the world from within their creative perspective, It is an anthropomorphic sense of reality that drives creativity and leads some artists to greatness - or Portmantle.

When sixteen-year-old Joyce Savigear absconds from work to go out with a man she barely knows, she hopes a new, exciting life is just beginning. The lives we design versus the lives we live is a central dichotomy in the book, which tells of two siblings, just released from borstal and assigned to take up residence and apprenticeship with a couple in the English countryside. It’s the 1950s and reverberations of the war linger (one character lost an arm on duty), but life must go on. The couple’s project is a Utopian one: they wish to replenish their farmland so it can provide subsistence as they run their architecture practice/apprenticeship. Will the siblings, and the couple, succeed in improving their lives by design, or will their foundations prove too unstable? Magwitch-like criminalsBenjamin Wood’s tender fourth novel is about nature and idealism, but it also examines responsibility and the fragility of aspiration." - New Statesman Benjamin Wood’s fourth novel is a reflective tale that seems only mildly tense when compared to the harrowing drama of A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better. In 1952, young siblings Charlie and Joyce Savigear have just been released from borstal; they join a rural architectural practice, Leventree, as apprentices. Leventree is the idea of architects Arthur and Florence Mayhood, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin as well as Arthur’s redemption after his own youthful period of incarceration. At first, all seems well. But soon Joyce is dragged into a criminal scheme by an old acquaintance, threatening the tenuous peace of this makeshift family. And that's all I can say about the plot. Anything more is going to spoil major revelations that come in several bursts, upending each other, in the final quarter of the book, and while telling you what they are might not actually spoil your enjoyment - because it's all so beautifully written and beautifully crafted regardless, and this is a story that has twists rather than relying on them - I think it's better if you don't know. Set mainly over the second half of 1952, but with brief forays into the years before and after, the narrative follows the siblings after they are released from borstal and taken on as architectural apprentices by Florence and Arthur Mayhood. They live and work together on the Surrey farm where the Mayhoods’ idealistic practice is based: tilling lessons in the morning; draughting classes in the afternoon. A happy time is had for a while, until Mal Duggan reappears.

The truth is revealed sparingly, until we suddenly find ourselves no longer reading a psychological thriller but an action thriller, reminiscent of old British films. Wood writes with superb attention to detail and authenticity. My only question is why the Mayhoods are shown to have a diesel-powered ‘wagon’ at a time when all but the heaviest goods vehicles would have used petrol engines. Benjamin Wood's tender fourth novel is about nature and idealism, but it also examines responsibility and the fragility of inspiration. New Statesman Wood is a seriously talented writer, able to enter the minds of his characters with eerie precision. THE YOUNG ACCOMPLICE is an involving tale of revenge and responsibility, which, while it devastates, also tells us that new lives can be built among the ashes." - Financial Times

Artists at Portmantle live there all expenses paid, though not in luxury, until they finish a new work. It is an insular existence framed by strict rules while putting no time limit on any given artist to produce something he or she feels good about sending out into the world. But when that happens, the artist must leave. Does it spoil your enjoyment of a novel when you predict the outcome of The Big Twist? It does for me. And I'm sorry to say I figured out the secret that The Ecliptic hides long before its eye-catching finale. But there is still plenty to admire in this ambitious, intricate and intelligent novel. While Joyce (the elder of the two) is rather sly and outspoken, Charlie is much quieter – a diligent young man who seems eager to learn. He responds well to the expectations set by the Mayhoods, contributing to the farm labour alongside his architectural training. In truth, there is something of the young Arthur in Charlie Savigear, a gentleness combined with curiosity and determination, qualities that Florence detects and hopes to nurture. Wood's daring narrative decisions show he hasn't lost the old spark, but has just added to it with his new repertoire." - The Critic An involving tale of revenge and responsibility, which, while it devastates, also tells us that new lives can be built among the ashes' FT

Benjamin Wood's The Young Accompliceis a treat for those who have followed his career ... Its greatest quality is its understanding of how characters exist only in relation to one another. Each pairing gives us a new angle, and added depth, with the clarity of a diamond. Wood's daring narrative decisions show he hasn't lost the old spark, but has just added to it with his new repertoire. What, it asks, are the opportunities available to someone who wants to leap clear of their wrong beginnings? John Self, The Critic Best Books of the Year 2022Elsewhere, Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei) discusses something new with his ex, Heather Stevens (Vail Bloom). There’s a chance that he offers for her to bunk with him until she gets a new place. thriller, romance and coming-of-age to gripping, memorable effect Sunday Times, Best Books for the Year A many-layered story of old-fashioned virtue and ambition, anaccount of the practicalities of “a campaign for a better life”. The Young Accomplice isfinely constructed, with themes of wrongdoing and innocence wovennaturally into the action. Its evocation of an ostensibly decorous postwar world full ofcontradictions is convincing throughout. Benjamin Wood’s attention to detail, his smoothwriting style and his strong beliefs give the novel an unusual dignity, in keeping with the eraof its setting. TLS A group of creative types (artists, novelists, architects playwrights, etc.), who are having trouble creating, receive sponsorships to live in an artists colony on an island off the coast of Turkey. Those living in this mysterious colony have no responsibilities other than to try to get their creative juices flowing again. They live under assumed identities until they feel they are ready to resume their former lives. Some of them, including the main protagonist Knell (formerly Elspeth), have been on this island for many years without having managed to complete the great projects that have obsessed them. However, they seem satisfied with their lives until 17 year old Fullerton arrives on the island. Fullerton is evasive, surly and needy. Wood’s unnerving fourth novel follows young siblings from borstal to living on a farm in 50s England. As a portrait of youthful mistakes and adult blindness, The Young Accomplice is both tender and cutting; it is often subtle and occasionally thrilling. Christopher Shrimpton, Guardian

Exhilarating , earthy, cerebral, frank and unflinching . . . A masterfully paced and suspenseful read' - Independent, on The Ecliptic

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A resounding achievement . . . Rich, beautiful and written by an author of great depth and resource Guardian, on The Ecliptic Benjamin Wood knows how to generate tension, makes lively characters you can see and hear, and writes about rural England in a sensitive, considered way that doesn't stray into the nostalgic. A huge talent." - Hilary Mantel Chris Power talks to Benjamin Wood about his novel The Young Accomplice. Set in 1952 the novel explores how Frank Lloyd Wright’s modernist vision inspired a married couple to set up their own architectural office in rural Surrey, where they offer a creative education and opportunity to orphaned siblings fresh out of borstal.