Wayne Johnston's last novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, was acclaimed all round the world and established him as a major literary figure. Johnston's new novel will delight everyone who loved that book and bring him thousands of new readers. At the centre of The Second Century of Devlin Stead is the rivalry between Robert Peary and Frederick Cook to be the first American to reach the North Pole. Its protagonist, however, is Devlin Stead, a young man from St John's, Newfoundland. Devlin's mother dies when he is only five, in mysterious circumstances, and he endures a lonely childhood before discovering the truth about his patentage. That discovery transforms his life: he finds his true father and embarks on a journey of unbelievable risk. His adventure brings him celebrity, acclaim from New York 'society', real love, and finally, the truth about the bitter feud between two strange, driven men. The Second Century of Devlin Stead is a story of epic sweep, thrilling adventure and heartbreaking pathos. Johnston has harnessed the scope, energy and inventiveness of the nineteenth-century novel and channelled it through the haunting and eloquent voice of his hero. His descriptions of place, whether of the frozen Arctic wastes or teeming New York, have an extraordinary physicality and conviction, recreating a time when the wide world seemed to be there for the taking. A remarkable achievement that seamlessly weaves facts and fabrication, it continues the masterful reinvention of the historical novel that Wayne Johnston began with his lavishly praised The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.