A haunting story about saying goodbye – showing that even freedom may have its cost after all

Leaving comes naturally to Eva Elliott: she spent her childhood abandoning schools and cities. Now she enjoys the thrill of saying goodbye much more than the butterflies of a first smile or kiss. There’s so much more potential in walking away, and Eva has a dangerously vivid imagination.

During a rainy summer in London, where Eva lives in a rackety Soho flat with her boyfriend, she dreams of exit strategies. She becomes fascinated by a golden eagle who has escaped the Zoo to roam the city, and thinks up stories about the ghostly figure of a girl who lurks in the window of a strip club opposite her office. When a beguiling stranger called Grace turns up in Eva’s life armed with a conspiratorial smile and an unsettling secret, Eva is left unsure what is in her head and what is reality.

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"A runaway success for Anna Stothard" London Evening Standard

"The great strength of this book is the lovely London atmosphere; Regents Park, Fitzrovia, the winding streets of Soho, all of which Anna describes so well." The Daily Mail

"Anna Stothard's third novel cements her place as one of Britain's best young authors… Stothard's lush, dreamy prose is given full rein during Eva's frequent flights of fancy." Literary Review

"Stothard gets her talons into you...read it for its beguiling heroine and sparky prose." Tatler

"A witty, beguiling and increasingly poignant novel about the scars – physical and psychological – that make us who we are, and about the messy business of love and loss." The Lady

"A stunningly accurate and chilling account of the acquiring of emotional wisdom, with vividly drawn characters." Kate Saunders, The Saturday Times

"Stothard’s writing is accomplished and very engaging." The Times

"The characters developed throughout the story, and each one was so engaging that you wanted to get to know them better… Stothard's style of writing moves the story on effectively." - Newbooks Magazine

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Read an excerpt from The Art of Leaving

Follow author Anna Stothard on twitter @AnnaStothard and on her blog www.annastothard.com

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