Kit de Waal talks to Alex Clark

Kit de Waal is author of My Name is Leon, which was adapted for BBC Two, and The Trick to Time, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. In this event she discusses her writing career and her luminous new novel.

The Best of Everything follows Paulette, a woman who likes having the future – a wedding to Denton, honeymoon and then a child – mapped out. But when Denton’s friend Garfield tells her that Denton won’t be around anymore, the future changes. Soon Paulette finds herself pregnant with Garfield’s child. And while her son Bird gives her life meaning, Paulette can’t stop thinking of Nellie, a little boy a few streets away growing up with no sign of a mum.