Almost Life - by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Two young women meet in Paris one sultry summer in a decades-spanning tour de force about the enduring power of young love and the poignant heartbreak of missed chances--perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People.

Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her PhD at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman. The moment the two women meet, the spark is undeniable, but their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make...

Erica and Laure's love story spans decades, marriage, children, secret trysts, and the agonizing changes--both personal and political--that might mean they can be together, after all. But when life brings them within touching distance again, will they be brave enough to seize a future together?

Beautifully capturing young love and all its complexities, Almost Life is a story of longing for the paths not taken, and the almost lives we live.

Review Quotes

"Almost Life reads like a dream of young desire, but Hargrave is brilliantly awake to the heartbreaks and constraints of enduring passion. Sexy, tender, piercing, and oh so true, Almost Life is a lyrical accounting of love's offerings and its toll. I loved every word."--Erin O. White, author of Like Family

"A heart-rending tale of missed chances. Millwood Hargrave is a wonderful writer and what a pleasure it is to be in the company of such a deft, enchanting storyteller"
--Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain

"Kiran Millwood Hargrave has crafted one of the most intensely beautiful love stories I have read in a very long time. Almost Life is breathtaking in its understanding of the way we may be haunted by the living, by the paths we do not take. I wish I could read it again for the first time. It left me awestruck."
--Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites

"Sensual and powerful, Almost Life caught me in a bittersweet nostalgia, reflecting on life, love and friendship. Erica and Laure's story, vividly evoked against the backdrop of 1970s Paris and the subsequent decades, affected me deeply."
--Marian Keyes, author of Sushi For Beginners

"Almost Life is captivating and immersive, a soaring ode to both love's possibilities and its pain. Richly rendered and deeply felt, Laure and Erica will stay with me for a long time."
--Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure

"A rippling elegy to the possibilities and impossibilities of love. Tender, sensual, and thrumming with life, Kiran Millwood Hargrave swirls heady prose into both a lament and a celebration of the choices we make, the passions that consume us, and the almost lives we almost live."
--Lucy Steed, author of The Artist

"One of the greatest love stories I've ever read - searingly real, romantic and tragic, Almost Life is One Day for a new generation."
--Stacey Halls, author of The Lost Orphan

About the Author

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is an award-winning, bestselling novelist. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize. Her debut novel for adults, The Mercies, was a New York Times Notable Book, USA Today Best Book of 2020, and won international awards including a Betty Trask Award and the Prix Rive Gauche à Paris.