FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD'Fascinating and intimate' OBSERVER'Lucid, distilled, honest' MAGGIE NELSON'Gorgeous, symphonic, tender' CARMEN MARIA MACHADOHow 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. 'A moving record of love at the margins' NEW YORKER'A call to arms to reappraise past lives' THE TIMES