On a cold February afternoon, Stella catches sight of a man she hasn`t seen for many years, but she instantly recognises him. Or thinks she does. At the same moment on the other side of the globe, in the middle of a crowd of Chinese New Year revellers, Jake realises that things are becoming dangerous. They know nothing of one another`s existence, but both Stella and Jake flee their lives: Jake in search of a place so remote it doesn`t appear on any map, and Stella for a destination in Scotland, the significance of which only her sister, Nina, will understand. Gripping, insightful and deft, this is Maggie O`Farrell`s finest achievement to date.