Marie-Helene Bertino – författare

Meet Adina: a woman who has never felt at home on Earth*** A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR, JUST LANDED IN THE UK ***'One of the best books I have read this year’ KALIANE BRADLEY, Guardian'As tender as it is witty and perceptive' SPECTATOR'I do not know how my life would be if I hadn't read this book' *Reader review*Born at the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space, Adina is a baby of unusual perception. Tiny and jaundiced, she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognises she is different, not least because of her strange knowledge of a faraway planet. Then a fax machine arrives at home. Her mission is clear: she must report on the oddities of humankind.As Adina grows up, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and delights of human existence. But then she starts to wonder. Is there a chance there are others like her out there?Adina sees our world differently. And her gentle, perceptive – and funny – observations offer a quietly joyful new view of life on Earth, the challenge of knowing ourselves and the miracle of finding our people in this vast universe.‘A remarkable funny-sad novel’ New York Times'I loved this idiosyncratic, funny and wise novel' LAILA LALAMI, author of The Dream Hotel'Joyous and expansive and wonderfully funny' DAISY JOHNSON, author of Fen ‘A book that I will recommend to people for the rest of my life’ DAKOTA JOHNSON

Madeleine Altimari is a sassy, smart-mouthed nine-year-old and an aspiring jazz singer, inwardly mourning the recent death of her mother. Little does she know that on Christmas Eve Eve she is about to have the most extraordinary day - and night - of her life.After bravely facing down some mean-spirited classmates and a galling rejection at school, Madeleine doggedly searches for Philadelphia's legendary jazz club The Cat's Pajamas, where she's determined to make her on-stage debut. Meanwhile, her fifth grade teacher Sarina Greene is nervously looking forward to a dinner party that will reunite her with an old high school crush. And across town at The Cat's Pajamas, club owner Jack Lorca discovers that his beloved haunt may have to close forever . . .As these three lost souls search for love, music and hope on the snow-covered streets of Philadelphia, together they will discover life's endless possibilities over the course of one magical night. A vivacious, charming and moving debut, 2am At The Cat's Pajamas will swell your heart and have you laughing out loud.