Author(s): Claire Lowdon

Fiction

Daringly, radically honest and very, very funny, this is the best novel yet about the 'lost generation' of young Londoners today. Left of the bang: a military term for the build-up to an explosion. For failing concert pianist Tamsin Jarvis, the pressure is mounting. She thought she was happy with her adoring schoolteacher boyfriend Callum, but when Chris comes into their lives, that starts to change. In a few months Chris will be gone, leaving for his first tour of Afghanistan. Nothing seems to be working out the way Tamsin wants it to - in fact, she's not even sure what it is she wants. Claire Lowdon is a thrilling, highly accomplished new voice in fiction, and with LEFT OF THE BANG she has written a VANITY FAIR for her times. With sharp, satirical humour, unparalleled social observation and great empathy, LEFT OF THE BANG is an unflinching insider's view of the foibles, hopes and difficulties of a generation of young Londoners today - who are often having much less fun that it seems.