Under the Same Stars

Book excerpt: When two brothers take a road trip to visit their ill father, their journey reveals, not only an unexpected friendship, but also some surprising truth It is late summer 2008 and forty-year-old Salinger Nash, who has been plagued since adolescence by a mercurial depression, leaves the north-west London house he shares with girlfriend for his older brother, Carson's home in New Orleans. It is Carson who has persuaded Salinger that they should visit their estranged father on his deathbed in Las Cruces, and use it as an opportunity to heal old wounds. However it is with a sense of foreboding that Salinger sets off with his brother on a road trip from New Orleans in Carson's prized brand new Lexus, as their relationship is far from amicable. Tender, funny, unflinching, this is a road trip story in the great American literary tradition and an exploration of sibling rivalry that harks back to Cain and Abel. It is a vivid glimpse of a country through the eyes of an outsider, a profound exploration of brotherhood and a gripping journey of the soul. 'With its tender, funny, unflinchingly exploration of sibling rivalry, this is a vivid glimpse of a country through the eyes of an outsider, a profound exploration of brotherhood and a gripping journey of the soul' - GQ 'There is a tragic rejection at the heart of the story. Lott is attempting to solve what he sees as a deep-rooted crime against humanity, excavating the blank spaces beneath the rawness of everyday life' - Independent 'Under the Same Stars, a tender-hearted novel of sibling rivalries, is no less memorable than his family memoir The Scent of Dried Roses' - Spectator