D.J. Taylor’s evocative novel about a clever betting sting, bursting with memorable characters and rich with the hustle of Victorian England.
In the heat of June, all England seems to be heading for Epsom Downs. Aristocrats and beggars, society beauties and street girls, punters and thieves - all stream along the dusty roads towards the greatest race of them all. Hope are high, nerves are taut. Many have waited all year for Derby Day. Uniting them all is the champion horse Tiberius, on whose performance rest so many dreams. And at least one deeply cunning scheme.
About the Author
D.J. Taylor was a judge on the 2003 Booker Prize but his own longlisting eight years later came, he says, as ‘a great surprise as I always fancy I know the type of book that Booker judges go for’.