THE STORY OF A MAN WHO HAD GIVEN UP HOPE... ...AND THE VILLAGE THAT GAVE IT BACK TO HIM 'Forget everything you know about apocalypses. This novel, set in Cornwall, will restore your faith in humanity' Elle

John Ironmonger was born and grew up in East Africa. He has a doctorate in zoology, and was once an expert on freshwater leeches. He is the author of The Good Zoo Guide and the novels The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder (shortlisted for the 2012 Costa First Novel Prize and the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize), The Coincidence Authority and The Whale at the End of the World (an international bestseller). He has also been part of a world record team for speed reading Shakespeare, has driven across the Sahara in a £100 banger, and once met Jared Diamond in a forest in the middle of Sumatra.