"First published in New Zealand in slightly different form by Victoria University Press, Wellington, in 2019"--Title page verso.

"The epic fantasy that's taking the world by storm--a bewitching story about a revenge killing, a mysterious scroll box that has survived centuries of fires, and the book that changed everything Taryn Cornick believes that the past--her sister's violent death, and her own ill-conceived revenge--is behind her, and she can get on with her life. She has written a successful book about the dangers that threaten libraries... but not all of the attention it brings her is good. Questions arise about a fire in the library at her grandparents' house and about the whereabouts of an ancient scroll box known as the Firestarter. A policeman, Jacob Berger, also has questions, about a cold case. Then a shadowy young man named Shift appears, forcing Taryn and Jacob toward a reckoning felt in more than one world. The Absolute Book is an epic fantasy with an intimate tone; one in which hidden treasures are recovered, wicked things resurface, dead sisters are a living force, and great beauty is born of lies and treachery. It is a book of journeys and returns, from contemporary England to a magical land of great beauty and peace but is founded on treachery, from New Zealand to Purgatory itself. Above all, it is a declaration of love for stories and the ways in which they shape our worlds"--,Provided by publisher.