Worcestershire, 1982: 13 year old Jason Taylor is coming of age in a sleepy English town during the Thatcher era, but life is about to get interesting. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Costa Book Award, David Mitchell's semi-autobiographical novel is structured as 13 stories, following Jason as he takes part in boys' games on a frozen lake; "nightcreeping" through the summer backyards of strangers; following the Falklands War in the tabloids; falling for cruel Dawn Madden; and encountering Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears.

"[David Mitchell has created] one of the most endearing, smart, and funny young narrators ever to rise up from the pages of a novel."—Boston Globe