Even for a Second

A deeply humane contemporary literary novel about displacement, welcome, loss, listening and the fragile moments in which home briefly appears.

In a Meeting House in West Yorkshire, a room is booked under the name of a harmless thing: Community listening, Tuesday evenings, six-thirty to eight.

Seven chairs are placed in a half-circle. One possible place is left unclaimed.

Imran has written rules for himself: do not rescue, do not summarise, do not turn listening into performance. Margaret brin...