'He never expected to see anything on the CCTV. No one ever did on the night shift.'
Catherine O'Flynn's heartbreaking first novel is a haunting story of Britain in the 21st century.
CHOSEN BY GAIL HONEYMAN ON BBC RADIO 4 A GOOD READ
'Sad, funny and full of charm - a delight' Gail Honeyman, author of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE AND THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD
A lost little girl with her notebook and toy monkey appears on the CCTV screens of the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective Kate Meaney, missing for 20 years.
Kurt, a security guard with a sleep disorder, and Lisa, a disenchanted deputy manager at Your Music, follow her through the centre's endless corridors - welcome relief from the tedium of their lives.
But as this after-hours friendship grows in intensity, it brings new loss and new longing to light.
"A superb, haunting novel from a new literary talent" - Daily Mail
"An exceptional, polyphonic novel" - The Guardian
"Contemporary literary prose at its finest" - Publishing News
"Sad, funny and full of charm - a delight" - Gail Honeyman, author of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine