''As exquisitely observed and quietly brilliant as the rest of Tyler''s fiction'' Guardian

Liam Pennywell has spent most of his life dodging issues and skirting adventure when suddenly, in his sixty-first year, something happens that jolts him out of his certainty and leaves him with a frightening gap in his memory.

In trying to piece together what took place on his first night in a new apartment, Liam finds instead an unusual woman with secrets of her own, and a late-flowering love that brings its own set of thorny problems...

ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE

''Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing'' Rachel Joyce

''She knows all the secrets of the human heart'' Monica Ali

''A masterly author'' Sebastian Faulks

''I love Anne Tyler. I''ve read every single book she''s written'' Jacqueline Wilson