This book isn’t about much – I mean, there’s not much plot. What it is about is people trying to figure out their lives, just as we all are doing. Each character seems like someone you might know: a friend, an acquaintance, someone you glance at in a coffeeshop and wonder about. They bumble through their lives, and in the process, they come together and make one another’s lives a little better.

At the heart of the story is a boy – a 12-year-old outsider who can’t fit in to his London school and whose mother has recently attempted suicide. He meets a man – an aimless, rich, 30-nothing trying desperately to fill his days while avoiding becoming connected to anyone. Almost against their wills, the two become friends and manage to help each other make the human connections they’ve been needing.