“Brilliant… Remarkable… Impressively accomplished.”
The Sunday Times
“Excellent… Surprising and enjoyable… A brave debut.”
The Times
“Such an incredibly clever idea… Compelling… Brilliant.”
Daily Mail
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A notable debut from a smart and capable author. Sentence by sentence, Ben Hinshaw offers wit, sensitivity and sharp observation. Then slowly the reader sees the grand design – the intricate, braided storylines, sustained with energy and relish. It is entertaining, and something more – truly involving, like a whole novel sequence cleverly condensed.
—Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light
Ben Hinshaw renders ordinary human agonies with extraordinary precision and emotional insight. He specialises in the atmosphere of human interconnection, in subtle revelations and indelible images. This book is a riveting and beautifully patterned map of the emotional archipelago of longing and learning, loving and leaving.
—Max Porter, author of Lanny
Astonishingly good.
—Claire Kilroy, author of Soldier Sailor
Beautifully done. I was completely blown away.
—Ruth Gilligan, author of The Butchers
A splendid debut. The stories are sharp, subtle, richly coloured and the world they deliver delightfully surprising. Read this book.
—Lynn Freed, author of The Romance of Elsewhere
Full of precise moments of humanity. So finely observed, funny and touching.
—Alex Hyde, author of Violets
Terrific. I really enjoyed it.
—Andy Miller, co-host of Backlisted
The calm, clear and intelligent prose belies the tortured emotional currents just below the surface. Sophisticated and ambitious.
—Samantha Dunn, author of Failing Paris
From an exciting new voice in literary fiction comes a brilliantly innovative, tender and unsettling debut novel.
On the island of Guernsey, a teenager discovers a secret and finds his betrayal has the power to ruin lives. In London, a marriage shot through with infidelity leads to a quest for revenge. And in California, as wildfires burn, a young veteran struggles with the trauma of war, seeking solace at a local ranch.
In this extraordinary debut, a cast of characters with intersecting fates must grapple with unexpected deception, the loss of innocence and the lies we tell. Ben Hinshaw illuminates the unnerving nature of what it means to grow up, to be a teenager playing at adulthood and an adult playing games.
