{"id":118090,"date":"2026-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archwaybookshop.co.uk\/?post_type=product&#038;p=118090"},"modified":"2026-05-05T09:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T09:47:12","slug":"parallel-lines","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781529953886","title":{"rendered":"Parallel Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>&#8216;Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation&#8217; Alan Hollinghurst<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I&#8217;m very pleased we have&hellip;&#8217;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. His therapist, Martin, also faces challenges, including his adopted daughter Olivia&#8217;s tenuous relationship with her biological mother. Olivia, meanwhile, is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life.<\/p>\n<p>Over a year, their fates collide and each of their destinies is revealed in a marvellous new light.<\/p>\n<p><b>&#8216;<\/b><b>A tale of art and family<\/b><b>&hellip;<\/b><b>brimming with wordplay<\/b><b>&#8216; <\/b><b><i>Financial Times<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>&#8216;<\/b><b>Sentences that whoosh past like arrows<\/b><b>&hellip;<\/b><b> St Aubyn<\/b><b>&#8216;<\/b><b>s talents are mighty<\/b><b>&#8216; <\/b><b><i>New York Times<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>&#8216;I love Edward St Aubyn&#8217; Donna Tartt<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is summer, and Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a persistent hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him as a child. His therapist, Martin, is also facing challenges, including his adopted daughter Olivia&#8217;s tenuous relationship with her biological mother &#8211; a predicament that makes Sebastian&#8217;s struggle feel uncannily close to her own. Olivia is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life, as her best friend Lucy faces a grave diagnosis and her husband, Francis, pursues his mission of rewilding the world. Over the course of the next year their fates collide in outrageous and poignant ways, as each of their destinies is revealed in a marvellous new light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[68],"product_tag":[26830,26837,26843,26883],"class_list":["post-118090","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-general-fiction","product_tag-modern-contemporary-fiction","product_tag-narrative-theme-environmental-issues","product_tag-narrative-theme-interior-life","product_tag-united-kingdom-great-britain","pa_book_author-aubyn-edward-st","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-823-92-edition23","pa_edition-1st-paperback-ed","pa_imprint-vintage","pa_language-english","pa_pages-9937","pa_publisher-vintage","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Parallel Lines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.&#039;Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation&#039; Alan Hollinghurst&#039;We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I&#039;m very pleased we have&hellip;&#039;Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. 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Olivia, meanwhile, is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life.Over a year, their fates collide and each of their destinies is revealed in a marvellous new light.&#039;A tale of art and family&hellip;brimming with wordplay&#039; Financial Times&#039;Sentences that whoosh past like arrows&hellip; St Aubyn&#039;s talents are mighty&#039; New York Times&#039;I love Edward St Aubyn&#039; Donna Tartt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parallel Lines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.&#039;Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation&#039; Alan Hollinghurst&#039;We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I&#039;m very pleased we have&hellip;&#039;Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. 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Olivia, meanwhile, is producing a radio series on natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life.Over a year, their fates collide and each of their destinies is revealed in a marvellous new light.&#039;A tale of art and family&hellip;brimming with wordplay&#039; Financial Times&#039;Sentences that whoosh past like arrows&hellip; St Aubyn&#039;s talents are mighty&#039; New York Times&#039;I love Edward St Aubyn&#039; Donna Tartt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781529953886\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Archway Bookshop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchwayBookshop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-logo_512-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Archwaybookshop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781529953886\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781529953886\/\",\"name\":\"Parallel Lines\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"A brother and sister lost and found, in a novel that seizes your heart and enthrals your mind, from the author of the Patrick Melrose series.'Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation' Alan Hollinghurst'We set off in opposite directions and walked around the world until we met, and I'm very pleased we have&hellip;'Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him with a fragile hold on reality and a hunger to connect with the mother who abandoned him. 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