The Hero of this Book

A taut, groundbreaking new novel from bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken, about a writer's relationship with her larger-than-life mother – and about the very nature of writing.

'A sublime gift' – MEG MASON

From the bestselling author, a taut, heartrending new novel about a writer's relationship with her larger-than-life mother.

Ten months after her mother's death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book walks across London on a quiet Sunday. The city was a favourite of her mother's, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself recalling all that made her complicated mother extraordinary. Even though the woman, a writer, wants to respect her mother's nearly pathological sense of privacy, she must decide whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.

A New Yorker, Time, Washington Post, Oprah Daily and NPR Book of the Year

'I absolutely loved it. A moving portrayal of daughterhood...suffused with warmth and love' – MEGAN HUNTER

'Confirms McCracken as among the finest contemporary chroniclers of everyday life... wonderful' – GUARDIAN

'Tender, funny, heartbreaking... a writer who always delights' – RUMAAN ALAM