Love and Other Thought Experiments: Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020

'Philosophy meets fiction in this beguiling and intriguing novel of minds, hearts, other worlds, love, death and everything in between' Sophie Kinsella

Rachel and Eliza are planning their future together. One night in bed Rachel wakes up terrified and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there. Rachel is certain; Eliza, a scientist, is sceptical. Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question. What follows is a uniquely imaginitive sequence of interlinked stories ranging across time, place and perspective to form a sparkling philosophical tale of love, lost and found across the universe.

'Quite extraordinary: a super-smart metaphysical romp that's also warm, wistful and heartfelt. A book that declares, winningly, that just because it's all in your head, it doesn't mean it's not real' Daily Telegraph

'Ward's ingenious fiction debut stands in a tradition of philosophical fiction: Voltaire's Candide, Sartre's Nausea . . . [Her] writing is often moving, exuberant and sensitive . . . gifts of bravura wit and imagination' Guardian

'Brimming with close observation . . . the sheer literary ambition on show is impressive, with Ward producing a highly original first novel that echoes European experimentalists such as Kundera and Krasznahorkai' Spectator