Helen Knightly has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a mother who had none to spare. And as this electrifying novel opens, she steps over a boundary she never dreamt she would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems like the fulfilment of a lifetime's buried desire. Over the next twenty-four hours, her life rushes in at her as she confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads.'Exhilarating, unforgettable ...This is a remarkable novel in which every word is vital, each nuance felt ...Candid, gut-wrenching, at times horribly funny and often beautifully touching ...The genius which guides "The Almost Moon" is its absolute, horrible, multiple truths; its staggering clarity' - Eileen Battersby, "Irish Times". 'As moving as it is unquestionably gripping' Observer 'As gripping as it is strange and wild ...My God, it grips ...I lay awake half the night, feverishly hoping both that it would never end, and that it would all be over soon' - Rachel Cooke, "Evening Standard".