A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.

‘Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation’ Alan Hollinghurst

‘We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I’m very pleased we have…’

Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. His therapist, Martin, also faces challenges, including his adopted daughter Olivia’s tenuous relationship with her biological mother. Olivia, meanwhile, is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life.

Over a year, their fates collide and each of their destinies is revealed in a marvellous new light.


‘A tale of art and family…brimming with wordplay’ Financial Times

‘Sentences that whoosh past like arrows… St Aubyn’s talents are mighty’ New York Times

‘I love Edward St Aubyn’ Donna Tartt