By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Home and Gilead, a modern American masterpiece by an author whose work 'defines universal truths about what it means to be human' (Barack Obama) 'A classic.' Guardian 'A masterpiece.' The New Yorker 'It's pretty much a perfect novel.' David Nicholls 'I just adore this book and have probably reread it a hundred times.' Michelle Zauner Ruth and Lucille are orphans growing up in the small desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their dead mother. Steeped in imagery of the bleak wintry landscape around them, the sisters' struggle towards adulthood is powerfully portrayed in a masterful modern classic exploring loss, loneliness and transience. 'I found myself reading slowly, than more slowly-this is not a novel to be hurried through, for every sentence is a delight.' Doris Lessing