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The Forgiven
  • Published: 23 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9781448155071
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

The Forgiven

Formats & editions
EBook
23 Aug 2013
Paperback
15 Apr 2014
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East meets West with shattering conclusions in this stylish, taut and brilliant piece of cinematic storytelling from Lawrence Osborne, soon to be a major film adaptation starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes

'Utterly compelling...I couldn't put the book down' Observer
'Surprising and dark and excellent' New York Times
'A gripping and sophisticated thriller' Independent

Soon to be a major film adaptation starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes

David and Jo Henniger are on their way to a party at their old friends' home, deep in the Moroccan desert. But as a groggy David navigates the dark desert roads, two young men spring from the roadside, the car swerves and collides with one of the boys...

Meanwhile, festivities at the house are in full flow. Under the watchful eyes of their Moroccan staff, the extravagant hosts attend to the whims of their glittering, insatiable guests as the party rages on into a new day. The stage is set for a weekend in which David and Jo must come to terms with their fateful act and its shattering consequences.

'As menacing and engrossing as the best McEwan' Sunday Times
  • Published: 23 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9781448155071
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

About the author

Lawrence Osborne

Lawrence Osborne is a critically acclaimed novelist, journalist, and screenwriter based in Bangkok. He is the author of eight novels, including Ballad of a Small Player, Beautiful Animals, and The Forgiven. His non-fiction ranges from memoir through travelogue to essays, including Bangkok Days, The Naked Tourist and The Wet and the Dry. His novels have been chosen as Books of the Year by the Guardian, the Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, the Daily Mail, The Economist, The New Yorker and the New York Times. The Forgiven was made into a film in 2022 starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes and Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton was released on Netflix in 2025.

portrait photo of Lawrence Osborne

Also by Lawrence Osborne

Burning Angel and Other Stories
On Java Road
The Glass Kingdom
Only to Sleep
Beautiful Animals
Hunters in the Dark
The Ballad of a Small Player
See all

Praise for The Forgiven

Compelling…Engrossing…Gripping

Sunday Times

Surprising and dark and excellent

New York Times

A sinister story about guilt, atonement and restitution, fashioned from lean, prowling prose

Herald

More than a stylish thriller… The central plot has parallels with The Bonfire of the Vanities, while the socialites could be straight out of The Great Gatsby

Stylist

A gripping read

Kirkus

A superbly compelling novel... As menacing and engrossing as the best McEwan

Robert Collins, Sunday Times

Osborne brings together all his authorial talents in this gripping and sophisticated thriller

Emma Hagestadt, Independent

Stylish, somehow both lavish and muscular at the same time

David Evans, Independent on Sunday

Utterly compelling; at the risk of trotting out a cliché, I couldn't put the book down

Justin Cartwright, Observer

A terrifically realised encounter between the clashing values of traditional Islam and the hedonistic, secular West... Beautifully written, painfully resolved.

Lionel Shriver, The Times

A brilliantly observed tale of class and hedonism

The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*
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