First novel by Man Booker Prize shortlisted author.

"Heartbreaking and compelling." Observer

Lou Connor, a gifted, unhappy sixteen-year-old, is desperate to escape her life of poverty in Sydney. When she is offered a place as an exchange student at a school in America it seems as if her dreams will be fulfilled . . .

How the Light Gets In is an acutely observed story of adolescence, shot through with spiky humour. In Lou Connor M.J. Hyland has created a larger-than-life heroine who captivates the reader with her vivacity and vulnerability,
from hopeful beginning to unexpected, haunting end.

"Hyland nails the alternating excitement and embarrassment of being a teenager . . . a writer grappling with serious questions about how we make our way through the world."
New York Times

"An astonishingly well-written slice of reality."
Telegraph

"Hyland excels at atmosphere . . . she brings the long-forgotten teenage sensation of drowning in life's uncomprehended complexities horribly alive."
The Times

"An intriguing and disturbing work which shimmers with edgy brilliance."
Sunday Herald

A powerful debut from an Australian novelist that features one of the most likeable but contrary figures you are likely to meet in contemporary fiction.

Lou Connor, a gifted, unhappy sixteen-year-old, is desperate to escape her life of poverty in Sydney. When she is offered an exchange student placement at a school in America it seems as if her dreams will be fulfilled.

Her host family has a beautiful house in Illinois and couldn't be more welcoming . . . until she starts to be distubed by the suffocating and repressed atmosphere of their suburban mansion and things begin to go terribly wrong.

How the Light Gets In is an acutely observed story of adolescence, reminiscent of American Beauty in its dissection of engrained prejudices and middle-class hypocrisy. In Lou Connor, Hyland has created a larger-than-life protagonist who mesmerises the reader with her vivacity and vulnerability, from hopeful beginning to unexpected, haunting end.