A powerful and perceptive novel from two-time Miles Franklin Award winner Alex Miller.

'Miller has created a body of writing that is now acknowledged as one of the great Australian literary achievements of the past half-century.' –Morag Fraser

It's 1975, and at the threshold of his writing career Andy McPherson is navigating how to be fully present both for his partner, Jo, and their young daughter.

When forced to take a part-time teaching job Andy meets Lang Tzu, a charismatic and intriguing man. Andy is drawn deeper into a dangerous relationship when Lang asks him to prove his friendship by brokering a risky deal for a much-desired piece of art. Andy finally consents despite Jo's opposition. In the process, Andy is in fact negotiating his own deal with himself as an artist and is compelled to face up to the conflict between his conception of art as a creative gift and the realities of the art market.

Powerful and perceptive, Miller's profound and intimate depiction of Jo and her partnership with Andy, and his poignant portrait of Lang's troubled genius, form the beating heart of this beautiful novel.