"An outstanding piece of literature", The Times

Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest is a children's novel set in Norway. It's called Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest in the US and Shadow Forest in the UK. There's a website all about the book here. It includes: the first chapter, character lists and profiles, reviews, games, exclusive extracts, the artwork, deleted characters, deleted chapters, a reading guide, competitions, an interview with myself, writing advice and lots more. Do stop by for a visit.

I suppose Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest is similar to my other books, in that it is about a family crisis (in this case a brother and sister coming to terms with the death of their parents) only this one features trolls and murderous pixies instead of ghosts and Labradors.

It was fun to write, especially the troll family with only one eyeball between them and the chapters with the religious rabbits.

Here's the back cover blurb:

Aunt Eda’s Rule #9:
NEVER—UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES—GO INTO THE FOREST.

Samuel and Martha have just moved to Norway to live with their Aunt Eda, and she’s taking some getting used to. She has too many rules, no TV, and insists that they eat local delicacies like brown cheese and reindeer soup.

And then there’s the most peculiar thing about her—her irrational fear of her own backyard. Sure, Uncle Henrik hasn’t been heard from since he disappeared into it ten years ago, but that can’t be the forest’s fault . . . can it?

Samuel is skeptical, until he disobeys Rule #1—Never go up to the attic—and finds an unusual book: The Creatures of Shadow Forest, which gives scary descriptions of the fantastic creatures supposedly living in the forest. So when Sam starts seeing strange things venture past the treeline after dark, he can’t help wondering . . . could Aunt Eda be right, and what really happened to Uncle Henrik?

This highly inventive fantasy by Matt Haig, “a rising young star in the literary galaxy” (Yorkshire Post), is full of amazing characters and unexpected twists that will elicit both laughter and chills.

The hardback is out now (Putnam, Penguin). If you want to order it you can do so here (Amazon) or here (Barnes & Noble).There's also an audio version available from Scholastic.

The book is available in Germany (Bertelsmann - see here). It will also be published in France (Bayard) and Italy (De Agostini), Holland (Clavis) and Romania (Corint Junior).