Clare Sestanovich

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Ask Me Again

A Finalist for The Center For Fiction First Novel Prize

'Beautiful . . . Clare Sestanovich is a writer of disarming radiance' - Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness

How much knowledge do you need in order to know someone?

As her grandmother is dying, sixteen-year-old Eva wanders the halls of a hospital. There, she spots Jamie. Despite having little in common, from this chance-encounter stems a life-changing platonic love.

She is sixteen, living in middle-class Brooklyn; he is the same age, but from the super-rich of Upper Manhattan. She's observant, cautious, eager to seem normal; he's bold, mysterious, eccentric. Eva's family is warm and welcoming, but Jamie avoids going home to his.

As Eva goes off to university and falls in and out of love, Jamie drops out and is drawn towards radical experiments in politics and religion. Their separate spheres seem to be spiralling away from each other, but it soon becomes clear that they are both circling the same question: how do you define yourself and your beliefs in a divided and unjust world?

Written with precision and immense wit, Ask Me Again is a journey of intimacy across time. A love story of sorts, this coming-of-age novel explores how relationships can define us, change us and point us towards futures we might not have imagined for ourselves.

'A deeply philosophical novel, which surprises and delights at every turn' - Jenny Offill, author of Weather