FIVE arriving 5.5.26
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FIVE arriving 5.5.26 .
Where to find FIVE:
FIVE in the Press:
Five strangers stand on a train platform waiting for the 7:06 to London Victoria - the child, the mother, the businessman, the old woman, and the gambler. In the next five minutes, one of them will die. You know what they do not, and you also know who you think deserves it. Five people, five life stories, five minutes until one of them dies.
“Ridiculously good. Razor-sharp, wickedly funny, and darkly thrilling...
Unforgettable.”
“Viscerally insightful, emotionally punchy, wryly observed, and with scalpel-precision writing, Five is tour-de-force of a novel. I read it in one sitting.”
“Original. Urgent. Disturbing. Brilliant. Quite unlike anything I’ve ever read. Don’t miss this one-Ilona Bannister is a major talent. ”
ilona Bannister
author
Hello and welcome! I’m the author of three novels, When I Ran Away, Little Prisons and coming soon, in May 2026, Five, published by Crown in the US and Juniper, a new imprint of Harper Collins and HQ, in the UK.
Recognition for When I Ran Away:
+ Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Long List, 2021.
+ Apple Books Writer to Watch, 2021.
+ Good Morning America Must-Read Book.
+ New York Post Best Book to Read.
Other Highlights:
+ The Posse Foundation Posse Star 2023 recipient, for achievement in the arts.
+ My work has appeared in The Guardian, Stylist, Lit Hub, and on NPR.
+ I’m on the board of The Feminist Book Club and a proud supporter of Rights of Women.