Parallel Lines

A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.

* The Orwell Prize Finalist 2025 *

We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I m very pleased we have

It is summer. Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. His therapist, Martin, also faces challenges, including his adopted daughter Olivia s tenuous relationship with her biological mother. Olivia, meanwhile, is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life.

Over a year, their fates collide in outrageous and poignant ways, revealing their destinies in a new light. Parallel Lines is a novel about connection, family, love, and the cascading consequences of our choices.

PRAISE FOR EDWARD ST AUBYN:

Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation
ALAN HOLLINGHURST

I love Edward St Aubyn
DONNA TARTT

Nothing can prepare you for the rich, acerbic comedy of St Aubyn s world
ZADIE SMITH