The Accidental

'My mother began me one evening in 1968 on a table in the café of the town's only cinema . . .' One hot summer a stranger arrives at the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family. Intriguing, beguiling, arresting, Amber brings love, joy, pain and not a little upheaval, throwing the carefully ordered world of the Smarts into the air. They will be forever changed by Amber but how will they know whether it is for the bad, the good or something else entirely? 'Joyous ... writing as rapture, as giddy delight' The Times 'Funny, sexy, poignant, bewitching' Observer

'My mother began me one evening in 1968 on a table in the café of the town's only cinema . . .' One hot summer a stranger arrives at the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family. Intriguing, beguiling, arresting, Amber brings love, joy, pain and not a little upheaval, throwing the carefully ordered world of the Smarts into the air. They will be forever changed by Amber but how will they know whether it is for the bad, the good or something else entirely? 'Joyous ... writing as rapture, as giddy delight' The Times 'Funny, sexy, poignant, bewitching' Observer

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE AWARD 'Joyous' The Times The Accidental pans in on the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family one hot summer. There a beguiling stranger called Amber appears at the door bearing all sorts of unexpected gifts, trampling over family boundaries and sending each of the Smarts scurrying from the dark into the light. A novel about the ways that seemingly chance encounters irrevocably transform our understanding of ourselves, The Accidental explores the nature of truth, the role of fate and the power of storytelling. ***** 'Brilliant and engaging, frequently hilarious. . . Smith makes one look at the world afresh' Sunday Telegraph 'Funny, sexy, poignant, bewitching' Observer 'A beguiling page-turner . . . To read The Accidental is to be excited from first to last' Independent

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE AWARD 'Joyous' The Times The Accidental pans in on the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family one hot summer. There a beguiling stranger called Amber appears at the door bearing all sorts of unexpected gifts, trampling over family boundaries and sending each of the Smarts scurrying from the dark into the light. A novel about the ways that seemingly chance encounters irrevocably transform our understanding of ourselves, The Accidental explores the nature of truth, the role of fate and the power of storytelling. ***** 'Brilliant and engaging, frequently hilarious. . . Smith makes one look at the world afresh' Sunday Telegraph 'Funny, sexy, poignant, bewitching' Observer 'A beguiling page-turner . . . To read The Accidental is to be excited from first to last' Independent