Love and Other Thought Experiments Book

RELEASE DATE - 1 JUNE 2020

Longlisted for the Polari Book Prize 2021

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020

Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020

Rachel and Eliza are planning their future together.

One night in bed Rachel wakes up terrified and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there. Rachel is certain; Eliza, a scientist, is sceptical.

Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question.

What follows is a uniquely imaginative sequence of interlinked stories ranging across time, place and perspective to form a sparkling philosophical tale of love, lost and found across the universe.

'Sophie Ward is a dazzling talent who writes like a modern-day F Scott Fitzgerald' - Elizabeth Day

'a genuinely affective family narrative that is emotionally compelling as well as intellectually stimulating. Surely not since Jostein Gaarder's 1991 novel Sophie's World, has an author produced such an imaginative and original synthesis of fiction and philosophy' - Becky Long, Irish Times

'In Love and Other Thought Experiments, Ward proposes to alter the colour of her readers' minds . . . But the success of Ward's venture inevitably depends on the quality of the writing. This is often moving, exuberant and sensitive. We care about her characters and share their hopes and fears. Ward's investigation and practice of empathy is easily the best thing in the book.' - the Guardian

'Brimming with close observation . . . the sheer literary ambition on show is impressive, with Ward producing a highly original first novel that echoes European experimentalists such as Kundera and Krasznahorkai' - Spectator

'Ward has achieved something quite extraordinary: a super-smart metaphysical romp that's also warm, wistful and heartfelt. A book that declares, winningly, that just because it's all in your head, it doesn't mean it's not real.' - the Daily Telegraph