‘Every so often a novel comes along which transcends whimsy with the beauty of its writing. Elizabeth McCracken's small masterpiece is one of these' Guardian

A powerful and unique story about connection, showing that miracles can happen – even across a library circulation desk.

The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-eight year old librarian Peggy Cort feels as if love and life have stood her up. That is, until the day James Carlson Sweatt – the 'over-tall' eleven year old boy who's the talk of the town – walks into her library and changes her life for ever.

Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for friendship. In James, Peggy discovers the one person who's ever really understood her, and as he grows – six foot five at age twelve, then seven foot, then eight – so does their most singular romance.

*Perfect for readers who loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine*

The most original and enchanting romance I have read in a long time -- Erica Wagner * The Times *
McCracken avoids the temptations of easy humour and writes with great pathos and delicacy about the complexities of love * Observer *
The lucid, compelling prose convinces us that this mismatched pair do become a real couple: improbably, disturbingly, and very movingly, theirs is a true love story * Sunday Times *
The Giant's House is the work of a writer who is as singular and astute as the characters she creates... funny, ambitious and precise... a beautifully composed portrait of people struggling against themselves with the full force of their courage and desire * Times Literary Supplement *
Every so often a novel comes along which transcends whimsy with the beauty of its writing. Elizabeth McCracken's small masterpiece is one of these * G2 *
I guarantee that this novel will touch your heart, just as it did mine * Prima *

Elizabeth McCracken is the author of five books. She has received grants and fellow­ships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and she was chosen as one of Granta’s 20 Best American Writers Under 40. She has served on the faculty at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently holds the James Michener Chair for Fic­tion at the University of Texas at Austin.