Flesh

<p><b>''Brilliance on every page'' </b>Samantha Harvey<br><b>''A revelatory novel'' </b><i>Sunday Times</i><br>‘<b>So brilliant and wise on chance, love, sex, money'' </b>David Nicholls<br><b>‘How do I get out of a reading slump? This is the book to do that’</b> Rhianna Dhillon, <i>BBC Radio 4</i><br><br><b><i>At first there seems to be no reason to deny the body what it wants, whenever it wants it</i>.</b><br><br>Fifteen-year-old István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. New to the town and shy, he is unfamiliar with the social rituals at school and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbour – a married woman close to his mother’s age – as his only companion. As these encounters shift into a clandestine relationship, István’s life spirals out of control.<br><br>Years later, rising through the ranks from the army to the elite circles of London''s super-rich, he navigates the twenty-first century''s tides of money and power. Torn between love, intimacy, status, and wealth, his newfound riches threaten to undo him completely.<br><br><b>''So much searing insight into the way we live now'' </b><i>Observer</i><br><br><b>‘Refreshing, illuminating and true’</b> <i>Financial Times</i><br><br><b>''Compelling and elegant, merciless and poignant''</b> Tessa Hadley<br><br><b>‘Utterly engrossing and I read it all in a day’</b> 5* reader review<br><br><b>‘I was hooked and tried to read this book with any spare moment that I had''</b> 5* reader review<br><br>A ‘Best Book of 2025’ in the <i>Guardian</i>, <i>Observer</i>,<i> Financial Times</i>, <i>Daily Telegraph</i> and <i>Daily Mail</i></p>