'Lucy has burned down her life. Robin, her new, eternally watchful friend, has never learned to inhabit his. Both have found their way to the small seaside town of Abergele, Lucy to dry out and immerse herself in obsessive research on early electronic music, Robin to stand sentinel as his grandmother dies.
'Recognising in each other a fellow exile and a rich source of distraction, they fall into step on daily rambles across the cliffs. Their charged conversations about music and philosophy function as both high-stakes flirtation and a stealthy way of processing the ways their lives have gone awry.
'Lucy recreates her old life in hothouse miniature: old friends and fascinations reappear from the city, including the charismatic and cruel Julian, the radiant concentration of all Lucy’s obsessions, and Gudrun, whose bulletproof poise makes her irresistible to all. Robin is soon drawn into these claustrophobic entanglements.
'Across endless dinners, parties and benders, the group attempt to out-perform each other, their devotion to pleasure frequently tipping into self-immolation. Exhausted by the mayhem, Robin and Lucy flee Abergele, but their compulsions prove more difficult to shake.' (Publication summary)
(Introduction)
(Introduction)
