THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER'Glorious. Wonderfully engaging, wonderfully observed... that rare thing: a novel that is as affecting as it is entertaining' New York TimesWHY DO WE FALL IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE WE DO?WHY DO WE VISIT OUR MISTAKES ON OUR CHILDREN?WHAT MAKES LIFE TRULY BEAUTIFUL?Set in New England mainly and London partly, On Beauty concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kippses - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks...

An unforgettable portrait of London and one of the most talked about debuts of all time!'The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages' GuardianOn New Years Day 1975, the day of his almost-suicide, life said yes to Archie Jones. Not OK or 'You-might-as-well-carry-on-since-you've-started'. A resounding affirmative.

Promptly seizing his second life by the horns, Archie meets and marries Clara Bowden, a Caribbean girl twenty-eight years his junior. Thus begins a tale of friendshi...