This is very much the real deal. 4 stories that the author says you can read in any order (I tried it the old fashioned front to back way and that worked for me) set from the palaeolithic era through witch hunts and an asylum in the 1920s all the way into the far future and deep space.

All 4 are connected by the shape of a spiral. I’m not telling you anything else as I think you should read the rest for yourself.

My immediate thought on finishing is that it’s a smaller, more simplified sort of Cloud Atlas narrative linking vastly different eras of human history deftly and with ease. Like with Only Ever Yours and A Song For Ella Grey, Ghosts Of Heaven pushes the boundaries of what I presume non-YA readers would consider the genre to be. That’s only a good thing.

Thrilling stuff in places, smart, beautifully written at times, challenging and wonderful.

(The Ghosts Of Heaven is one of the books I judged for the UK & Ireland YA Book Prize 2015)