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Love can change your life. Can it survive marriage and middle age?

‘Wonderfully wise, moving and heartfelt’ WILLIAM BOYD

‘A tender love story’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

*LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2025*

Lily falls in love with Sam the minute she sets eyes on him. It takes Sam a day or two longer. Curious, because Lily has never quite believed in love, while Sam thought he understood it inside out.

Lily, a documentary maker, and Sam, a playwright, are both in relationships that have quietly expired, and an affair takes hold that they are powerless to resist.

Arriving in mid-life, their relationship opens unexpected new worlds. But what will happen to them when familiarity and age begin to take their toll? What will survive?

‘Celebrates love in later life’
HARPER’S BAZAAR

‘Playful, knowing…a romping read in all senses’
EVENING STANDARD

‘Jacobson at his finest’
LINDA GRANT

Publisher Review

A tender love story… Jacobson’s sentences have always been things of beauty: ornate yet vigorous * Daily Telegraph * A rare gift and one to be treasured * Sunday Times * Something more subtle and melancholy than expected. In the best possible way, fans of Jacobson will not be disappointed * Observer * Essential human truths are conveyed through humour, melancholy and kinetic dialogue * Mail on Sunday * Equal parts funny and challenging, this is a clear-eyed view of long-term love * Daily Telegraph * A wonderfully wise, moving and heartfelt novel. A profound and vital book — William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart Howard Jacobson at his finest. An intense expression of romantic love and sexual desire — Linda Grant, author of The Story of the Forest Jacobson has lost none of his garrulity and ebullience… What Will Survive of Us powers along with stretches of nimble verbal exchange in which the opponents are equally matched. And you’re never far from a profound reflection on life’s challenges * Literary Review * Funny, self-knowing and floridly romantic * Oldie *