Description

Two people, deeply in love to the point of obsession. What could possibly go wrong?

Mae and Damian broke each other’s hearts ten years ago. Yet here they are again, hitting their 30s, plunging back into the same emotional whirlpool.

Theirs is not the only obsession either. Mae’s adoptive father, owner of The Sick Rose and The Invisible Worm bookshops also has one – for the works of William Blake.

Through skilfully following the interplay of a range of singular characters experiencing the complexities of what it is to be human, this contemporary novel explores the impact our actions have on others.

Damaged as she is, might Mae find the resilience to navigate a series of self-inflicted misadventures, finally to be released from emotional bondage and find her identity?

The author demonstrates an original voice with a sparkling gift for storytelling, blending pace, humour and literary interest of the kind to be found in the novels of Kate Atkinson and Bonnie Garmus.

The action and richly imagined settings are the result of the writer’s experience as an award-winning artist with degrees in English and a first in Fine Art, alongside a career in publishing, the theatre and the arts. It is this knowledge and expertise which results in a standout novel.

Reader Reviews:

‘Sheer genius’

‘A unique literary voice’

‘Both witty and profoundly humane’

‘Beguiling and immensely readable’