The dryly precocious, soon-to-be-fifteen-year-old hero of this engagingly offbeat debut novel, Oliver Tate lives in the seaside town of Swansea, Wales. At once a self-styled social scientist, a spy in the baffling adult world surrounding him, and a budding, hormone-driven emotional explorer, Oliver is stealthily (and perhaps a bit more nervously than he’d ever admit) nosing his way forward through the murky and uniquely perilous waters of adolescence.

His ambitions are as follows: (1) To find out why my father sometimes stays in bed for days at a time. (2) To find out why my mother's getting surfing lessons—and probably more—from a hippy-looking twonk. (3) To lose my virginity before it becomes legal—in just over a year.

There are other, lesser characters in the book: Jordana, who is my love interest, despite her eczema. Zoe, whose only real school friend is a dinner lady. I feel sorry for Zoe, which, in turn, makes me feel better about my own life. Then there's my friend Chips, an outstanding bully. He made our Religious Education teacher cry. This book might not change my life. But there is no telling how you will react.

Full of high drama as well as humor, bloodshed, and great tenderness, this fine novel marks the arrival of a major voice in historical fiction.