A bright moon for fools - Jasper Gibson

Harry Christmas - part Jim Royale, part Ignatius P. Reilly, part Oliver Reed - is on the run. Unable to cope with the death of his wife, bouncing from one bad decision to the next, a terrifying assault by the son of a woman he's conned makes up his mind to leave the country.

On a mission to track down his wife's ancestral village, Christmas arrives in Venezuela certain that his fortunes are about to improve. He's dead wrong. Soon out of money and luck, he is forced into yet more deceit - with devastating consequences for those he has fooled. Lost, drunk and lurching across rural Venezuela, Christmas reaches the point of breakdown. He wakes up in a village at the end of the world. He is hanging by one leg from a tree.

Inspired by the mighty Lola Rosa, he tries to crawl out of his spiritual abyss and find a way to live amongst these fishermen and farmers - but love isn't easy when you are a career liar still married to the dead. As the real trouble begins, can redemption survive?

A comic novel that is as funny as it is heart-breaking, Jasper Gibson's debut marks the arrival of a bold new voice in British fiction.