Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbour know he's still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And although he doesn't know it, that book also survived: it crossed oceans and generations, and changed lives.

Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that book. These days she has her hands full keeping track of her little brother Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah), and taking copious notes in her book, How to Survive in the Wild Volume Three. But when a mysterious letter arrives in the post she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake, and save her family.

In her extraordinary new novel Nicole Krauss has created some of the most memorable and moving characters in recent fiction. A tale brimming with laughter, passion and soaring imaginative power, The History of Love confirms Nicole Krauss as one of the most remarkable writers of her generation.