'Diana Evans is a lyrical and glorious writer; a precise poet of the human heart' Naomi Alderman

You can take a leap, do something off the wall, something reckless. Its your last chance, and most people miss it. South London, 2008. Two couples find themselves at a moment of reckoning, on the brink of acceptance or revolution. Melissa has a new baby and doesnt want to let it change her but, in the crooked walls of a narrow Victorian terrace, she begins to disappear. Michael, growing daily more accustomed to his commute, still loves Melissa but cant quite get close enough to her to stay faithful. Meanwhile out in the suburbs, Stephanie is happy with Damian and their three children, but the death of Damians father has thrown him into crisis or is it something, or someone, else? Are they all just in the wrong place? Are any of them prepared to take the leap?

Set against the backdrop of Barack Obamas historic election victory,Ordinary Peopleis an intimate, immersive study of identity and parenthood, sex and grief, friendship and aging, and the fragile architecture of love. With its distinctive prose and irresistible soundtrack, it is the story of our lives, and those moments that threaten to unravel us.

Diana Evans is a British author of Nigerian and English descent. Her bestselling novel,26a, won the inaugural Orange Award for New Writers and the British Book Awards deciBel Writer of the Year prize. It was also shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, the Guardian First Book, the Commonwealth Best First Book and the Times/Southbank Show Breakthrough awards, and longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel,The Wonder, is currently under option for TV dramatisation. She is a former dancer, and as a journalist and critic has contributed to among othersMarie Claire, theIndependent, theGuardian, theObserver,The Times, theTelegraph,Financial TimesandHarpers Bazaar.Ordinary Peopleis her third novel, and received an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts Award. She lives in London.

@DianaEvansOP www.diana-evans.com