From the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Offing and The Gallows Pole comes a powerful new novel about male friendship and the healing power of nature; 'one of the most interesting, restless writers of his generation' (Daily Mail)

**Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2022** **The BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick** **Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2022** 'In this folksy, magnetic tale, two outsiders seek healing and enlightenment by creating crop formations in a Wiltshire field ... A memorable hymn to beauty' OBSERVER 'The pleasures of this bountiful novel are like a glass of cool water on a parched summer day' THE TIMES ‘A spirited and anarchic novel... a roiling, rollicking crop-circle folk tale’ GUARDIAN England, 1989. Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men – traumatized Falklands veteran Calvert, and affable, chaotic Redbone – set out nightly in a clapped-out camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, the two men traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns. As the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation – and that an unlikely and beautiful friendship has taken root as the wheat ripens from green to gold. Moving and exhilarating, tender and slyly witty, The Perfect Golden Circle is a captivating novel about the futility of war, the destruction of the English countryside, class inequality – and the power of beauty to heal trauma and fight power. 'Brilliantly constructed and steeped in rural atmosphere' FINANCIAL TIMES, Best summer books of 2022

"A book is shot through with a romantic, even mystical radicalism of the kind that William Blake would have approved of." - DAILY TELEGRAPH

"The same visceral, iconoclastic thrill I got from Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem ... A study in male friendship and British identity, and a warm, rollicking, heart-expanding read. You’ll never forget the time you spend in the company of Calvert and Redbone" - OBSERVER, Thirty Best Holiday Reads

"Brilliantly constructed and steeped in rural atmosphere" - FINANCIAL TIMES, Best summer books of 2022

"A spirited and anarchic novel ... A roiling, rollicking crop-circle folk tale" - GUARDIAN

"A joy" - DAILY MAIL

"The understated, plangent loveliness of Myers’s storytelling is reminiscent of Mackenzie Crook’s brilliant TV series Detectorists. Here is a strong, spiritual writer who sees and loves every dewdrop, old oak, soft little animal and buried sword, and offers them up to us like the precious treasures they are. The Perfect Golden Circle deserves top ranking in any list of the best books about rural England" - THE TIMES

"In this folksy, magnetic tale, two outsiders seek healing and enlightenment by creating crop formations in a Wiltshire field ... combining lyricism with comedy and themes that range from warfare and environmental calamity to hope and healing ... A memorable hymn to beauty" - OBSERVER

"Clever, angry, poignant and beautifully constructed ... A work of love, and a work about works of love, and a work that evokes a sense of love in the reader" - SCOTSMAN

"Tender and magical" - METRO

"I’ve been loving reading aloud The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers to my mother. It’s a delightfully descriptive book, telling the story of two men in the south of England who create crop circles in the dead of night. Myers interweaves modernity and myth, UFOs and ancient rites. At the heart of the book is the main character’s mantra. “Fuel the myth, strive for beauty”" - Guardian, What we're reading

"Full of mythology, wonder and oddity, Myers’ typical lyricism moves seamlessly from the mundane to the magical… Those who feel the English countryside deep within their bones will be enchanted by this folk gem from one of the nation’s most illuminating writers" - THE TABLET, Summer reading

"The Perfect Golden Circle is a triumph of a book, showcasing a writer at his very best. There is a huge heart beating in this magical story. A heartfelt story that is transformative and transportive ... Moving and exhilarating, tender and slyly witty, The Perfect Golden Circle is a captivating novel about the futility of war, the destruction of the English countryside, class inequality – and the power of beauty to heal trauma and fight power" - STORGY

"Consummate plotting and tenderness" - TLS

"Wonderfully subtle and understated... Benjamin Myers manages to write novels of increasing importance, asking what happened in previous decades to get us to this point in English history, where the seriousness of his purpose is matched by how entertaining and engrossing they are" - BOOKMUNCH

"An odd and winsome pleasure: a novel of friendship, collaboration, and environmental guerrilla art" - KIRKUS

"Not only is it a total delight to tiptoe behind them as they languidly fuel the myth and strive for beauty, but as an experiment in proving one’s existence by leaving a close-to-invisible footprint that still resonates across the countryside, history and beyond, it’s a work of genius in several dimensions" - STRONG WORDS

"An investigation of trauma, class, healing and male friendship" - GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022

"A number of titans and titans-in-the-making are looking backwards, from Anne Tyler… to Benjamin Myers in The Perfect Golden Circle" - NEW STATESMAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022

"This quiet, lyrical novel confirms a powerful new voice" - THE TIMES

"It’s a poignant story, and Myers’ descriptions of the countryside are wonderful" - MAIL ON SUNDAY

"One of the most interesting, restless writers of his generation … Unfurling at the unhurried pace of a fern, it’s an evocatively lyrical paean to the countryside – deeply felt and closely observed" - DAILY MAIL

"A draft of cool, clear water, it feels like a cleansing book ... He’s such a good and brave writer … there’s a lot of heart in this book ... I was comparing it to some Ted Hughes poetry and it’s so much more hopeful than that … there’s light in this landscape ... A very original writer and has pushed the form in all kinds of ways" - MONOCLE

"Every page is studded with descriptive jewels … Deeply attuned to the natural world … Poetic … This book is a sensual pleasure … It’s about the forever things: good food, and art, and friendship, and how those pleasures can redeem us, even during the harshest of times" - NEW STATESMAN

"Quietly gripping … Written with Myers’s customary grit and brio … A welcome advance, one that sees Myers effortlessly extending his range" - GUARDIAN

"The ever-versatile Myers channels the gently uplifting dynamics of The Offing for this richly atmospheric account of male friendship, the fragility of the countryside and the archaic allure of crop circles" - WATERSTONES