Perfect: From the Bestselling Author of the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures. Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right? Rachel Joyce is the author of the international bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry . She is also the award-winning writer of more than twenty plays for BBC Radio 4. She started writing after a twenty-year acting career, in which she performed leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company and won multiple awards. Rachel Joyce lives with her family on a Gloucestershire farm. 'Tense and engrossing... readers who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will not be disappointed.' - Sunday Times 'An instant classic.' - Daily Express 'You will end up grinning dippily and recommending this wild, searching book to everyone you know.' - The Times 'Brilliantly realized... a powerful study of grief, loss, guilt, depression, mental illness - and ultimately the power of love - which grips the reader on every page.' - Daily Mail Summer, 1972: Two seconds have been added to the Atomic clock so as to counteract the irregularities in the Earth's rate of rotation. Eleven-year-old Byron has been told this but still struggles to understand. What might it mean? In the claustrophobic heat, he and his friend begin 'Operation Perfect', a hapless mission to rescue Byron's mother from impending crisis. Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local café, a solitary figure struggling with OCD. His job is a relief from the rituals that govern his nights. Little would seem to connect them except that two seconds can change everything. If your world can be shattered in an instant, might time also put things right? ‘it Is Her Clever Did-i-read-that-right Twist At The End That Really Got To Me And Had Me Scrabbling Through The Chapters, Open-mouthed.’ Evening Standard Summer, 1972: In The Claustrophobic Heat, Eleven-year-old Byron And His Friend Begin ‘operation Perfect’, A Hapless Mission To Rescue Byron’s Mother From Impending Crisis. Winter, Present Day: As Frost Creeps Across The Moor, Jim Cleans Tables In The Local Café, A Solitary Figure Struggling With Ocd. His Job Is A Relief From The Rituals That Govern His Nights. Little Would Seem To Connect Them Except That Two Seconds Can Change Everything. And If Your World Can Be Shattered In An Instant, Can Time Also Put It Right? Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning like any other: his school uniform draped over his desk chair, his sister arguing over breakfast, the click of his mother's heels in the kitchen. But when the three leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected, and eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same. In the aftermath of a life-shattering accident in the English countryside in 1972, twelve-year-old Byron Hemming struggles with events that his mother does not seem to remember and embarks on a journey to discover what really did or did not happen