Anywhere but here

'An amazing novel. Mona Simpson joins those female literary stars - Colette, Willa Cather - whose voices are uniquely recognizable, always their own' Vogue Eleven-year old Ann August and her mother Adele abandon their home in Wisconsin and set off on a drive to California so Ann can become a child film star in Hollywood. Left behind are the two people Ann loves best in the world: her grandmother Lillian and her cousin Benny. Frivolous Adele is the cause of all Ann's worries: she's always hoping to get rich, trying to attract a new husband and spending too much money on clothes. Their relationship has always been close, but volatile. As they drive across the parched American landscape, in search of a better life, theirs is a journey of discovery - of new possibilities, of their respective dreams and of each other. 'Original and profound' Independent 'Full of remarkable observations of people... the most commonplace events are recreated in an utterly compelling way' Times Literary Supplement 'Stunning... Simpson takes on - and reinvents - many of America's essential myths' Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 'Anywhere But Here is a wonder: big, complex, masterfully written, it's an achievement that lands Simpson in the front ranks of our best novelists' Newsweek