There but for the

A sparkling satire from the Booker Prize-shortlisted, Women''s Prize-winning author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet

''Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting'' Guardian

''There once was a man who, one night between the main course and the sweet at a dinner party, went upstairs and locked himself in one of the bedrooms of the house of the people who were giving the dinner party . . .''

As time passes by and the consequences of this stranger''s actions ripple outwards, touching the owners, the guests, the neighbours and the whole country, so Ali Smith draws us into a beautiful, strange place where everyone is so much more than they first appear...

*****

''Adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read'' Literary Review

''Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today'' Daily Telegraph