Clara and Christina : 'like spending time with an old, and infinitely wiser, friend' JAN CARSON

''An absolute delight, full of warmth and human surprise'' Louise Nealon, author of Snowflake

''An exquisitely written novel . . . full of big ideas, quietly and carefully explored'' Jan Carson, author of The Firestarters

Two women meet in an unassuming coffee shop in Belfast; they seem an unlikely pair. Clara is young, inquisitive, optimistic for what the meeting holds. Christina is older, in her seventies, still glamorous, still quick. She is working on her fifth novel but no one yet knows of its existence. Clara is there to interview Christina, for her own book, anticipating some major scoop on this reclusive novelist. She wants to unearth the truth behind the fiction. But Christina has a different lesson in store for Clara.

Over a few months, a relationship forms between these two women who live their lives in books. Clara, writing her first, embraces this opportunity to learn from a writer finishing her last. During this time, Clara, face to face with her hero, begins to question her own convictions ultimately asking herself: what if there is nothing but fiction?