'A cracking page-turner of a novel', compassionate and beautifully written portrait of a young single mother breaking free from her past

In the dead of night, Lily Waite and her 5-year-old son, Matthew, arrive at their new home on a council estate in East London; their only possessions, two suitcases and a bag of charred remains. Their past is a mystery, Matthew's father nowhere in evidence, and Lily resolute in her need for privacy. But Lily has to come to terms with the events that precipitated her flight from Yorkshire and, as she relaxes enough to allow new relationships into her and her son's life, the secrets of the past finally begin to relinquish their hold on the future.

"A compelling drama, full of subtle observation and wry humour" - The Times

"A cracking page-turner of a novel, written with consummate skill and feeling. This wholly contemporary story of love and survival in the city is free of cliché and full of surprises" - Judy Cooke, Mail on Sunday

"Lily walks between loneliness and defiance, wretchedness and quiet triumph; it's a delicate line and Jill Dawson achieves it with style, humour and honesty" - Roddy Doyle

"A beautifully evocative novel about loneliness, friendship and love. Seldom has inner-city London been depicted with such passion, and peopled with such a disparate array of characters, all of whom remain totally convincing and linger in the memory long after the final page" - Caryl Phillips

"One of the reasons for the book's success is its likeable central character, another is the truthfulness and sensitivity with which it depicts ordinary life" - Christina Koning, The Times

"[A] gem of a novel ... compelling, honest and unputdownable" - List