Author

Grace Walker

Primary Agent

Olivia Maidment

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

International Rights

Valentina Paulmichl

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

Film & TV

Hannah Ladds

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

Information

Biography

Grace works as an English teacher, delighting in helping children discover the joy of reading. She has a degree in Spanish and Italian and a background in video production. THE MERGE, her debut novel, is a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick.

Social Links

Books

Featured Book

How far would you go to never say goodbye?

Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia, a once fiery and strong-willed activist, can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.

Soon Amelia and Laurie join the opaque and mysterious group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his addict daughter Lara. As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation center for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.

An exhilarating, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, The Merge is a personal story of love, family, and sacrifice, as well as a thought-provoking examination of the limits of control, resistance, and freedom in our modern world.

CHOSEN AS A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK

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Press and Reviews

“Moving between the viewpoints of the two women, this is a compelling and disturbing story of love and sacrifice, control and resistance.”

– The Guardian

“Sci-fi readers who like their books on the thinkier side will want to investigate this buzzy debut novel concerning yet another ill-considered future technology. It seems…”

– Goodreads

“An excellent addition to the growing catalog of 21st-century dystopian nightmares.”

– Kirkus Reviews

“Walker’s vision of a dystopian world set in a severely overpopulated near future is disturbingly believable and oddly intriguing…an innovative dystopia that offers a fascinating look…”

– Library Journal

“I read The Merge in one frenzied weekend, with sweaty palms, almost as though it were a news article with a shocking headline. The characters are…”

– Silvia Saunders, author of Homesick

“With The Merge, Grace Walker takes a clever speculative premise, and creates a dystopian world that feels frighteningly plausible; filled with compelling characters struggling to come…”

– Guy Morpuss, author of Five Minds

“Grace Walker creates an uncanny world so rich and all-encompassing that it’s hard to believe it’s not real. The Merge lures you in, hurtling towards a…”

– Jodie Matthews, author of Meet Me at the Surface

“A disturbing, heartbreaking and gripping read, which manages to explore capitalism, technology, personal identity, climate change, human rights and over-population without ever losing sight of its…”

– Jo Harkin, author of The Pretender and Tell Me an Ending!