The Steep Approach to Garbadale

Dark family secrets and a long-lost love affair lie at the heart of Iain Banks’s fabulous new novel. The Wopuld family built its fortune on a board game called Empire! – now a hugely successful computer game. So successful, the American Spraint Corp wants to buy the firm out. Young renegade Alban, who has been evading the family clutches for years, is run to ground and persuded to attend the forthcoming family gathering – part birthday party, part Extraordinary General Meeting – convened by Win, Wopuld matriarch and most powerful member of the board, at Garbadale, the family’s highland castle. Being drawn back into the bosom of the clan brings a disconcerting confrontation with Alban’s past. What drove his mother to take her own life? And is he ready to see Sophie, his beautiful cousin and teenage love? Grandmother Win’s revelations wll radically alter Alban’s perspective for ever.

Reviews of The Steep Approach to Garbadale

** 'Compellingly, beautifully crafted … A fascinating read NEW BOOKS MAGAZINE ** 'Banks begins his most consistent book since THE CROW ROAD with slaight-of-hand tricks displaying the master in rude form … These shifts in voice are so perfect, so clean and witty that when Alban comes to the fore, we feel he's one of is … the maturit WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY ** 'A novel that could easily replace THE CROW ROAD as his career highlight MAXIM ** 'Banks still has the ability to make the reader smile with pleasure SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY