Stylish and witty tale of city life from the author of THE FAVOURS AND FORTUNES OF KATIE CASTLE

Alice is content to drift along in her job at Enderby's, the fusty auction house, among colleagues who are toffs, tarts or swots. It's an excuse not to engage in real life; having suffered loss before, she finds it altogether easier to dream about what might have been.

Life, however, is about to insist upon engaging with her. Enderby's future might be saved by pulling off an enormous coup: selling a first edition of the exquisitely rare Audubon's Birds of America. Alice is despatched to persuade its current owner, an aristocrat in his rural retreat, to give her the commission. Her mentor and friend Andrew - the one normal person at Enderby's - is highly suspicious. What follows is a mercilessly sharp yet moving lesson in how to spot the genuine article.