Catherine O'Flynn was born in Birmingham in 1970 to Irish parents. Her debut novel, What Was Lost, won the Costa First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. She has since written The News Where You Are and Mr Lynch's Holiday.
'People were careless and clumsy, always letting things slip through their soft fingers, and the trees made it their business to make sure these things were not lost. They carefully stored empty crisp packets.'