''A compulsive, razor-sharp and deeply tender novel''
Lara Williams, author of Supper Club

''Gabriel Flynn''s work, rich with insight and wit, makes the world newly vivid''
Claire Messud, author of This Strange Eventful History

''A brilliantly simple idea . . . compellingly complicated characters''
Aidan Cotrell-Boyce, author of The End of Nightwork

''Intimate, clever, unforgettable''
Elvia Wilk, author of Oval

''Darkly funny and deeply intelligent''
Julianne Pachico, author of Jungle House

When Luca drops out of his prestigious PhD programme and moves back home to Manchester, he thinks he''ll take some time to consider his life choices: the failed love affair that ended in a disastrous holiday and embarrassing exit, the pursuit of an academic life that gave him nothing but a strong sense of failure.

In need of money, and still convinced the literary life might be for him, Luca takes on a job as a ghost writer: Andy, who has progressive MS, wants Luca to write his life story. Luca''s own father had MS and eventually took his own life - making the assignment a full immersion in the dark parts of his childhood Luca has never really dealt with. Luca has his own ideas about what Andy''s book should be like - but he''ll have to learn how to curb his dreaming, if he ever wants to get paid.

While his love of literature and intellectual ambition might have got him so far away from his childhood in Manchester, Luca is grappling with what it means to try to go home again - how far where you''re from shapes you, and how difficult your parent''s past is to shake off.