She was in her senior year of college when star students Sam and Yash swept her into an intoxicating world of academic fervour, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games.

Their lives became quickly intertwined - with friendship but also with unpredictable passions and the intimations of first love. Decades later, she is a successful writer, living a comfortable life with her husband and children, when a surprise visit brings the past crashing into the present, forcing her to confront the decisions and deceptions of her youth.

'Touching, thoughtful, a deeply affecting love story about time and regret' DAVID NICHOLLS

'Steeped in yearning, melancholy and the reckoning with mortality that must come to us all . . .King's writing still pierces you' The Times

'Exploring how first love shapes a lifetime, here is a novel of piercing clarity' Independent

'Beautifully written . . .I was hooked from the first page' Daily Mail