Be Near Me

From the bestselling author of Mayflies and Caledonian Road

** Order Andrew O'Hagan's now novel Caledonian Road now **

'There is no page on which there is not something surprising or quotable or pleasurable of thought-provoking.' Hilary Mantel



'One of the few truly essential works of fiction to emerge from this country during the past 20 years or more.' John Burnside, Daily Telegraph



Longlisted for the Booker Prize, Be Near Me is a brilliantly moving story of art and politics, love and change, and the way we live now.



When an English priest takes over a small Scottish parish, not everyone is ready to accept him. He makes friends with two local youths, Mark and Lisa, and clashes with a world he can barely understand. The town seems to grow darker each night. Fate comes calling, and before the summer is out Father David's quiet life is the focus of public hysteria.



Andrew O'Hagan was born in Glasgow in 1968. His first book, The Missing, was published in 1995 and shortlisted for the Esquire/Waterstone's/Apple Non-Fiction Award. Our Fathers, his debut novel, was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize. His second novel, Personality, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. In 2003 Granta named him one of the Best of Young British Novelists. He lives in London.