First published 2003
On February 9, 1964, nine-year-old Jane MacLeod watches the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. That same night, a devastating event occurs that Jane misunderstands but never forgets. Her child's interpretation of what happened shapes every choice she makes afterward. Years later, Jane moves through London's punk scene in the 1970s, where she falls into an intense romance among fellow expatriates. She builds a career and raises children in New York as a working mother. But the ghost of that February night follows her everywhere. When Jane returns to a family gathering in the countryside, she must finally confront the truth about what really happened when she was nine. Only then can she break free from the misunderstanding that has blocked her path to the happiness she seeks with her own family.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, London, New York
Period: 1964, 1970s
272 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster