Why the Tree Loves the Axe

The brilliant second novel by a new US literary star.

Caroline, 27, walks out of a marriage and into an old people's home where she meets cantankerous, lusty octogenarian Billy, who entrusts a secret to her. She goes from his deathbed to a wedding, where she is seduced by a beautiful man who tells her stories of her ex's antics back home. Bright, buoyant Bonnie, meanwhile, installs herself as Caroline's new best friend and accompanies her to a picnic that turns into a riot. When it is over, the world's altered: for Caroline is no longer herself - she must flee being Caroline. We follow her long flight through trauma, fakery and captivity to redemption.

Jim Lewis's tale of how to measure love and its loss is a swooningly observant and atmospheric tale of rare resonance. Lewis writes about sex, ageing, identity and bereavement with such newness and rightness that his reader is struck dumb.