Lauren J Joseph for Lean Cat, Savage Cat

'An erotic spectacular of self-creation and spiralling disintegration' Olivia Laing

We cannot wait to welcome Lauren J Joseph to the bookshop this February to celebrate her latest acclaimed novel, Lean Cat, Savage Cat. The book is witty, sinister, and silly in equal measure. We hope to see you there.

Charli has finished art school and now has no idea what to do with her life. She's broke, disillusioned and her flatmates hate her. One night at a bar in Soho, however, everything changes when she first encounters the charismatic musician Alexander Geist. Androgynous, glamorously handsome, mysterious and just a little sinister, he feels something like a soul mate; and so when he heads off to Berlin, Charli follows.

There, at the centre of the city's febrile party scene, Charli and Alexander embark on their great project: to make Alexander into the biggest star since David Bowie. But Alexander is elusive, mercurial; and Charli is in over her head before she realises just how self-destructive her life has become under his spell.

A story of obsession and excess, doppelgangers and disassociation, fame and the terrible things we do to feel loved, Lean Cat, Savage Cat is an unforgettable novel from one of the most exciting writers at work today.

Lauren J. Joseph was born in Liverpool and lives in London. Her film and performance work has been shown internationally. Joseph's debut novel At Certain Points We Touch was selected as a book of the year by Stylist, Sheerluxe and Foyles, and she was named one of the Observer's debut novelists of the year.