Perfect: The compelling and emotional Sunday Times bestseller

Rachel Joyce

Jul 2013 · Random House

About this ebook

'Tense and engrossing... readers who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will not be disappointed.' - Sunday Times

'An instant classic.' - Daily Express

'You will end up grinning dippily and recommending this wild, searching book to everyone you know.' - The Times

'Brilliantly realized... a powerful study of grief, loss, guilt, depression, mental illness - and ultimately the power of love - which grips the reader on every page.' - Daily Mail

Summer, 1972: Two seconds have been added to the Atomic clock so as to counteract the irregularities in the Earth's rate of rotation. Eleven-year-old Byron has been told this but still struggles to understand. What might it mean? In the claustrophobic heat, he and his friend begin ‘Operation Perfect’, a hapless mission to rescue Byron’s mother from impending crisis.

Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local café, a solitary figure struggling with OCD. His job is a relief from the rituals that govern his nights.

Little would seem to connect them except that two seconds can change everything.
If your world can be shattered in an instant, might time also put things right?

Ratings and reviews

Although this kept me interested, I found it a little predictable. Beautifully written in parts but other areas were less enjoyable. Will definitely read more by the same author.

A story of loss in many guises that demonstrates how close we all are to mental illness through no fault of our own. Heart breaking and heart warming in one extraordinary package.

Perfect

About the author

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson's Beetle, Maureen Fry & the Angel of the North and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories.

Rachel's books have been translated into thirty-six languages. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The critically acclaimed film of the novel, starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton, was released in 2023. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' in December 2012 and shortlisted for the 'UK Author of the Year' 2014. In 2024 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kingston University.

Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl.

She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.