Life Cycle of the Common Octopus Emma Knight (2026)

This New York Times bestselling novel follows Pen and Alice, childhood best friends from Toronto, during their first year at the University of Edinburgh. Each has come to the city for her own reasons. Pen suspects that her divorced parents in Canada are hiding something from her, and believes she will find the answer in Scotland, where her fathers old friend, the famous writer Lord Lennox, lives. When she is invited to spend a weekend at Lennoxs centuries-old estate with his fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents secret while falling in love for the first time. Alice, an aspiring actor, sees university as her route to the West End and enjoys the power she has as the star of the years theatre production, until an affair with her tutor starts to slip from her control. Witty, warm and absorbing, this novel is a love story, a family mystery, a celebration of female friendship and an exploration of how looking back can help us move forward.