A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of "The Lovely Bones" and "Lucky."  Helen Knightly has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a mother who had none to spare. And as this electrifying novel opens, she steps over a boundary she never dreamt she would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems like the fulfilment of a lifetime's buried desire. Over the next twenty-four hours, her life rushes in at her as she confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads.  'Sebold writes brilliantly . . . "The Almost Moon" is a mature, salutary and timely novel' Helen Dunmore, "The Times"  'Exhilarating, unforgettable . . . This is a remarkable novel in which every word is vital, each nuance felt . . . Candid, gut-wrenching, at times horribly funny and often beautifully touching . . . The genius which guides "The Almost Moon" is its absolute, horrible, multiple truths; its staggering clarity' Eileen Battersby, "Irish Times "  'As moving as it is unquestionably gripping' "Observer "