Severely wounded in the Iraq war, Leroy has lived a half-life in a group home for eight years. Unable to bear it any longer, he commits a desperate act which helps him to disappear to another place. Freddie is the night porter at the home, who works two jobs yet can't make ends meet. Buried in debt from his younger daughter's medical bills, he's forced to consider a criminal proposition. Pauline is the nurse who tends Leroy, who lives her life in an uncomplicated way, emotionally removed, until she meets a young runaway. An extraordinary portrait of contemporary America, and a testament to the resilience of the human heart, The Free is Willy Vlautin's most moving and affecting novel to date.

Willy Vlautin is the prize-winning author of three acclaimed novels, The Motel Life (2005), Northline (2007) and Lean on Pete (2010), which was shortlisted for the IMPAC Prize. He is also the frontman of the band Richmond Fontaine, whose albums include 'Post to Wire' and 'Thirteen Cities'. Originally from Reno, he now lives in Portland, Oregon.