''I was gripped by it'' IAN McEWAN

Three lives collide, not one of them will emerge unchanged - the exhilarating new novel from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.

When Olivia meets a new lover, Francis, just as she is welcoming her dearest friend Lucy back from New York, her life expands dramatically. Her connection to Francis, a committed naturalist living off-grid, is immediate and startling. Eager to involve Lucy in her joy, Olivia introduces the two - but Lucy has news of her own that binds the trio unusually close.

Over the months that follow, Lucy's boss Hunter, Olivia's psychoanalyst parents, and a young man named Sebastian are pulled into the friends' orbit, and not one of them will emerge unchanged.

''Moving and so funny'' Observer, Books of the Year

''Heroic and astonishing'' Sunday Times

''Clever and compassionate... A novel with heart'' Spectator

''Entertaining... Immensely pleasurable'' Daily Mail