Up to the Light (A Novel)

"MAGNIFICENT...I could not stop reading it. I loved it.” —Charlotte McConaghy, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Wild Dark Shore
“Armfield is an ERA-DEFINING writer.” —Kaliane Bradley, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of The Ministry of Time
“Armfield writes the kind of books that STICK WITH YOU FOR LIFE.” —Kristen Arnett, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of With Teeth

From Lambda Literary Award and Goodreads Choice finalist Julia Armfield, a novel following two climbers in the aftermath of an Alpine expedition that goes horribly wrong, pitched as Into Thin Air meets The Haunting of Hill House, by way of Brokeback Mountain

June, 1994. The storied Mount Varda has been untouched by mountaineers for decades: the last expedition ended in tragedy. When Liam Holness and Petal Coulson-Carter, best friends and celebrated climbers, are invited to join a team organized by the famous Jim Callaghan to pioneer a new route, they are initially skeptical. Working-class Liam and butch lesbian Petal exist on the outside of mountaineering’s privilege, and they have no interest in Jim’s media circus.

But the call of the mountain is too strong, and soon Liam and Petal are in the French Alps preparing for ascent. Joining them on the expedition is Bill Franklin, Liam’s oldest rival, whose sweet nature begins to break down Liam’s defenses, while Petal’s heart is turned by a climber’s widow living in the town. As the expedition looms closer, the climbers begin to experience sleepless nights, bad dreams, and hallucinations. And as they make their way up the mountain, the world gives way to something stranger. With oxygen scarce and the altitude dizzying, how can Liam and Petal be sure of what is real? And will they ever know what happened to those they leave behind on the peak?

Braiding Liam and Petal’s perspectives with Jim’s tell-all memoir in the expedition's aftermath, Up to the Light is a heart-pounding adventure story and an aching dual love story, with a horror edge. Gorgeously written, chilling, and entrancing, this novel asks why we are drawn to danger, and how we can find one another again in the wake of unspeakable loss.