Versions of a Girl

Do we become who we are because of our parents, or in spite of them?

Fern-s mother is a social climber and a former ballet dancer who lives a plush life in a London townhouse. Fern's father only climbs if there's a bottle at the top, has an IQ of 133 and lives hand-to-mouth in Californian motels.

Aged fourteen, Fern has spent equal time with each of her parents. That is, until an unexpected visitor triggers a life-changing dilemma: whether she should get on a plane to London to be with her mother, or stay in California with her father. Here, Fern-s narrative splices in two. Two possible lives, one person. Each Fern will grow in wildly different, but eerily similar directions. Both must determine who they want to be - and how they deal with a thorny problem which threatens to undo them all: a murder.

Warm and brilliantly wise, this is the irresistible fiction debut from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.