Praise for Hourglass: 'This book truly glows in the heart of the reader' Max Porter 'A sneaky little head-f*ck' Lena Dunham 'A book for anyone who ever has been or ever will be heartbroken' Hollie McNish 'Hypnotic' Lemn Sissay Told from the alternating perspectives of five friends who grew up together on the same council estate, I See Buildings Fall like Lightning asks what happens when all the things we expect from our lives end up ... not happening. Only Rian has made it out of the estate and moved away to another city, but his money doesn't stop him clinging to a vision of the past that is quickly slipping away. Oli is fading by the day, drinking and snorting his way through the endless boredom. Things are looking up for Conor, but he is never too far away from tipping things back into chaos. Patrick and Shiv are as in love as ever, always the calm in the eye of the storm, but even they are rocked when old secrets begin to open new wounds. Bold, ambitious, and stylistically striking, I See Buildings Fall like Lightning lays bare the economic, psychological and spiritual impact of poverty, explores the redeeming and transforming beauty of friendship and examines the true limits of hope and forgiveness.

'A universal love story' Guardian 'Beautiful and very funny' Brett Anderson 'This book glows in the heart of the reader' Max Porter 'This book is such a sneaky head f*ck - an epic poem in an ancient style about the brutalities of modern love, a masculine interrogation of feminine heartbreak, a really beautiful way to spend an evening' Lena Dunham The second time you came, we went from bar to bar to bar. It made the city feel smaller. Like a map we were folding to the size of a stamp. We were good at that. We could have fit an entire universe inside a matchbox. Love builds up little by little and that's why it makes people reach for words like root and sediment and other words to do with rocks and trees. But what about the dismantling? Does it happen that way too? Because it feels like it is happening much, much faster. And I am reaching for words like landslide and like wave and like storm ... Exquisitely crafted, wildly imaginative and as darkly funny as it is moving, Hourglass is a revolutionary love story. It turns time upside down, combs the intimate wreckage of heartbreak for something universal, and asks what it means to lose what you love. 'Hourglass will stay with me for a long time. Hypnotic' Lemn Sissay 'Evocative, ecstatic and saturated with off-kilter wit' Alexandra Kleeman

A short, exquisite novel about love, loss and making sense of the world - as heartbreakingly moving as it is outrageous and funny 'A universal love story' Guardian 'Beautiful, funny, profound ... read it in one glowing session' New Statesman 'A book for anyone who ever has been or ever will be heartbroken. So that's everyone.' Hollie McNish Love builds up little by little and that's why it makes people reach for words like root and sediment and other words to do with rocks and trees. But what about the dismantling? Does it happen that way too? Because it feels like it is happening much, much faster. And I am reaching for words like landslide and like wave and like storm ... Exquisitely crafted, wildly imaginative and as darkly funny as it is moving, Hourglass is a revolutionary love story. It turns time upside down, combs the intimate wreckage of heartbreak for something universal, and asks what it means to lose what you love.