The novel is set before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A door into the unknown adventures of Narnia has been left ajar, although only for a select few.

The award-winning writer Francis Spufford has spent three years on a new novel for the CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series despite not having permission from the Lewis estate.

Spufford said that he had written The Stone Table for his daughter Theodora, 13, who “was desperate for me to write something that she would actually enjoy and also as a present for my ten-year-old self because back in 1974 I longed with an unspeakable passion for there to be one more Narnia book”.

A fellow writer praised Francis Spufford’s novel

Spufford, who has printed 75 copies and distributed them free to friends and fellow writers, said it was “not intended to get out into