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Exactly What You Mean

The BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Exactly What You Mean

Written by: Ben Hinshaw
Narrated by: Bert Seymour, Lily Howkins, Deborah McBride
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Brought to you by Penguin.

From an exciting new voice in literary fiction comes a brilliantly innovative, tender and unsettling novel exploring what it means to lose our innocence

Surrounded by the dramatic beauty of Guernsey, a teenager discovers a secret and finds his betrayal has the power to ruin adult lives. In London, a marriage shot through with infidelity leads to a quest for revenge, resulting in a series of simultaneously comical and catastrophic events. And in California, as wildfires threaten landscapes and lives, a young veteran struggles with the trauma of war, seeking solace at a local ranch.

In this extraordinary debut, a cast of characters grapple with unexpected betrayal, the loss of innocence and the lies we tell. With sharp insight, Ben Hinshaw illuminates the unnerving nature of what it means to grow up, to be a teenager playing at adulthood and an adult playing games.

© Ben Hinshaw 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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Critic Reviews

A surprising and enjoyable read . . . this novel without guardrails stands as a brave debut
Virtuosity of technique accompanies keenness of insight and depth of characterisation . . . Hinshaw's impressively accomplished debut puts him in [Tim Winton and Jennifer Egan's] company (Peter Kemp)
Ben Hinshaw offers wit, sensitivity and sharp observation . . . the intricate, braided storylines, sustained with energy and relish. It is entertaining, and something more - truly involving (Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light)
A poignant demonstration of the way the past is still folded into the present
Ben Hinshaw renders ordinary human agonies with extraordinary precision and emotional insight . . . This book is a riveting and beautifully patterned map of the emotional archipelago of longing and learning, loving and leaving (Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers)
Such an incredibly clever idea this, a set of interlinked stories in which people who appear in one turn up in another . . there's a regretful, wistful atmosphere that's compelling.
A splendid debut. The stories are sharp, subtle, richly coloured and the world they deliver delightfully surprising. Read this book (Lynn Freed, author of The Romance of Elsewhere)
Full of precise moments of humanity. So finely observed, funny and touching (Alex Hyde, author of Violets)
Terrific. I really enjoyed it (Andy Miller, author of The Year of Reading Dangerously and co-host of Backlisted)
The calm, clear and intelligent prose belies the tortured emotional currents just below the surface. Sophisticated and ambitious (Samantha Dunn, author of Failing Paris)
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