RESULTS

John Lanchester joins the dots of his parents' history, their extraordinary secrets and the shape of their shared life. From his grandparents' beginnings in rural Ireland and colonial Rhodesia, Lanchester navigates through his parents lives: his father Bill's devastating war-time separation from his parents; his mother Julia's tragic first love, her decision to become a nun and her adoption of a new identity. It is a story about love and fearing the strength of your own feelings; about family ties, and the flight from family, and the deep human need to keep secrets.

Victor Phillips, a family man in his fifties, loses his job but lacks the courage to confront his wife and family with the news, instead spending his days in aimless wanderings. Told through his interior monologue, the novel is a witty commentary on aimlessness in the lives of ordinary people.