Half a world away - Tom Bromley

Knebworth 1996. As the crowds wait expectantly for Oasis to appear, Ben is preparing to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Sarah, leaving England to teach in Japan. While she is away, he is being left behind in London, whiling away the hours for New Labour at Millbank.

Ben isn't entirely alone. There's Bex, friend, flatmate and folk guitarist, similarly parted from her boyfriend, Si. It's through her that Ben meets the mysterious Mika, a Japanese folkie and massive Nick Drake fan. And though it is Sarah who is doing all the travelling, it's Ben who's experiencing some wanderlust of his own...

'A shrewd and ingenious riff on modern relationships, but finally more than that: it's about politics and music as well as feelings, and how you have to insist on the highest standards in all three. A comic gem with a serious undertow.' Jonathan Coe