'You won't be able to put this down' Elle

'A great galloping joy of a book . . . a delicious celebration of love and life' Rebecca Stott, author of In the Days of Rain

In 1857, Elizabeth Gaskell set sail for Rome, a city that would prove to be a place of inspiration and love: she would make enduring friendships, and meet a man - Charles Norton - who would become the love of her life.

In 2013, Nell Stevens is writing about Mrs Gaskell in Rome, and falling drastically in love with a man who lives in another city altogether. As Nell chases her heart around the world, and as Mrs Gaskell forms the greatest connection of her life, these two women, though centuries apart, are drawn together, and for Nell, Mrs Gaskell becomes more than a figure from the past. Here is a confidante, a friend, a woman who - living outside the conventions of her time - might have some wisdom to offer Nell.

'A truly lovely book - acutely observed and honest and melancholy' Jessie Greengrass, author of Sight

'Tender, clever, sublimely crafted' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars

'Celebratory, charming' Guardian

'Winningly self-deprecating' New Yorker

'Funny, heartfelt' Irish Times

'Fascinating' Washington Post