The second novel from a writer hailed by Helen Dunmore as 'a novelist to watch': 'Clare Brown turns her characters' lives inside out until the seams show, and then split apart. She is original, ruthless and full of vitality.' A surreal take on relationships: for fans of Kate Atkinson, Liz Jensen and Fay Weldon

When chronic insomniac James Beauman joins a study group on dreaming and sleep disorders, he thinks he is simply the 'control', as he never dreams. But under the direction of psychologist Huw Reeves, the 'dream laboratory' starts to dominate his waking thoughts, particularly when he meets and falls in love with Delphine, whose dreams are terrifyingly intense. Then suddenly and inexplicably Delphine walks out and James is forced to confront their past and his own history. Why did she leave? Has he been sleepwalking through his own life? And could it be that Reeves' plans for the group, and Delphine in particular, are something rather more sinister than a good night's sleep?