* Linda Grant's 'best novel yet' (Financial Times) is a thoughtful and engaging story of a London family from the late sixties to the present

Born to hardworking immigrant parents in sunny suburban Los Angeles, Stephen Newman never imagined that he would spend his adult life under the grey skies of north London, would marry Andrea for convenience and stay married, and would watch his children grow into people he cannot fathom. Over forty years he and his friends have built lives of comfort and success, until the events of late middle age and the new century force them to realise that they have always existed in a fool's paradise.

"Compelling, perceptive and deeply humane" - Daily Mail

"Gripping and stylishly told. Post-war California, Oxford and London are recreated superbly and brightly . . . Grant comes close to creating the perfect novel" - The Times

"My only complaint? I fear I may not read a better book all year" - Evening Standard

"Ambitious . . . Like the best novels, it makes you examine your own moral compass alongside that of its characters" - Observer

"'Compelling, perceptive and deeply humane'" - Daily Mail

"'Gripping and stylishly told. Post-war California, Oxford and London are recreated superbly and brightly . . . Grant comes close to creating the perfect novel'" - The Times

"'My only complaint? I fear I may not read a better book all year'" - Evening Standard

"'Ambitious . . . Like the best novels, it makes you examine your own moral compass alongside that of its characters'" - Observer