Murmur

A novel based on the darkest chapter in the life of genius Alan Turing.


In Murmur, a hallucinatory masterwork, Will Eaves invites us into the brilliant mind of
Alec Pryor, a character inspired by Alan Turing. Turing, father of artificial intelligence
and pioneer of radical new techniques to break the Nazi Enigma cipher during World War II, was later persecuted by the British state for 'gross indecency with another
male' and forced to undergo chemical castration. Set during the devastating period
before Turing's suicide, Murmur evokes an extraordinary life, the beauty and sorrows
of love, and the nature of consciousness.

'...as bracingly intelligent as it is brave...[Eaves] knows that Turing's theories of consciousness have implications for fiction, and that fiction can operate at the frontiers of what we know about the workings of our minds.' - Guardian

'Murmur is a fully achieved literary experiment, digging deep into all the dimensions of human consciousness.' - Goldsmiths Prize Judge's citation

'[Murmur] is masterful - compassionate, principled, and moving. It is deeply wise, with the aching loneliness of both human indignity and dignity, despair and courage.' - Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces and All We Saw


'A really extraordinary book, unlike any other.' - Max Porter, author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers