`A sublime giftż MEG MASON From the bestselling author, a taut, heartrending new novel about a writerżs relationship with her larger-than-life mother. Ten months after her motherżs death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book walks across London on a quiet Sunday. The city was a favourite of her motherżs, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself recalling all that made her complicated mother extraordinary. Even though the woman, a writer, wants to respect her motherżs nearly pathological sense of privacy, she must decide whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal. * A New Yorker, Time, Washington Post, Oprah Daily and NPR Book of the Year * `I absolutely loved it. A moving portrayal of daughterhoodżsuffused with warmth and loveż MEGAN HUNTER `Confirms McCracken as among the finest contemporary chroniclers of everyday lifeż wonderfulż GUARDIAN `Tender, funny, heartbreakingż a writer who always delightsż RUMAAN ALAM