I used to think I didn't fit in, but now I realise I do. We all have our place; some just never find it.

When awkward teenager Charlie Hudson is beaten up during a family holiday at the beach, beautiful Tess Bailey rescues him – and sets the unusual course for his life. In this startling debut novel, Matt Nable follows the fortunes of Charlie, Tess and their families and neighbours. Their lives intertwine, unravel, straighten, and become tangles again. A father tries to relive his football career through his son; a mother deserts her children in an attempt to find herself; a daughter purges to take control of her life.

This is a portrait of plans gone wrong, a lament for what could have been, a salute to the power of redemptive love, and a brave examination of contemporary society.