When Things Are Alive They Hum

A debut novel by Bents explores the deep bond between sisters Marlowe and Harper, shaped by their mother's loss in childhood. When Harper's heart fails, Marlowe is determined to save her by any means necessary, even if it means breaking the law. The novel is a celebration of life, love, and sisterhood, and poses profound questions about grief, love, and fate.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2022
Publisher: Ultimo Press

An emotive and confronting debut, this beautifully written novel explores profound themes of grief, sisterly devotion, love, and medical ethics. It is a life-affirming, love-filled tear-jerker that celebrates life and sisterhood in an awe-inspiring way.

Posing profound questions about grief, love, and fate, the debut celebrates life and sisterhood in an awe-inspiring way. Marlowe and Harper share a bond deeper than most sisters, shaped by the loss of their mother in childhood. For Harper, living with what she calls the Up syndrome and gifted with an endless capacity for wonder, Marlowe and she are connected by an invisible thread, like the hum that connects all things. For Marlowe, they are bound by her fierce determination to keep Harper, born with a congenital heart disorder, alive.

Now 25, Marlowe is finally living her own life abroad, pursuing her studies of a rare species of butterfly secure in the knowledge that Harper's happiness is complete, having found love with her boyfriend, Louis. But then, she receives the devastating call that Harper's heart is failing. She needs a heart transplant but is denied one by the medical establishment because she is living with a disability. Marlowe rushes to her childhood home in Hong Kong to be by Harper's side and soon finds herself facing the question: what lengths would she go to save her sister?

Intensely moving, exquisitely written, and literally humming with wonder, this novel celebrates life in all its guises and what comes after. It is a testament to the power of love, determination, and the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Weight: 344g
Dimension: 128 x 198 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781761150463