A genre-defying examination of identity, queerness and love in the vein of Maggie Nelson's Argonauts

'A call to arms to reappraise past lives' THE TIMES

'A moving record of love at the margins' NEW YORKER

How do you tell the real story of someone misremembered - an icon and idol - alongside your own?

Jenn Shapland's celebrated debut is both question and answer: an immersive, surprising exploration of one of America's most beloved writers, alongside a genre-defying examination of identity, queerness, memory and love. Interweaving her own story with McCullers', Shapland shows us how the writers we love and the stories we tell about ourselves make us who we are.

'The kind of state-of-the-form reckoning that makes one wish there were more like it' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'A vital piece of life-writing' NEW STATESMAN

'Speaks clearly and universally of the human heart, and specifically of the human heart in conflict with itself' LITERARY REVIEW