The Book of Guilt

by Catherine Chidgey · 2026

In a haunting alternate 1979 England where the outcome of World War II has been rewritten, three thirteen‑year‑old triplets—Vincent, Lawrence and William—are the last boys left at the Captain Scott Home for Boys, a remote New Forest facility run under the government’s secretive Sycamore Scheme. Each day they perform chores, play under the watchful eyes of three caretakers—Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night—and swallow daily medicine to stave off a mysterious illness that has claimed many of their peers. Their lives are recorded in three grim ledgers: the Book of Dreams, the Book of Knowledge, and the Book of Guilt, which logs every transgression. When the state decides to close the Sycamore homes, the boys’ only hope is the legendary Big House in Margate—a seaside haven of sun, rides and freedom. Their world collides with that of Nancy, a secluded thirteen‑year‑old in Exeter, and together they uncover the dark origins of the orphanage and the true purpose of the Book of Guilt. As secrets surface and the children confront a regime that values some lives far less than others, they must decide whether to accept their fate or fight for a future beyond the shadows.