About the book: 2024 / “A writer is looking for an assistant” - this is the advertisement seen in the newspaper by Leah, a young Englishwoman who has fled to Paris from the gray everyday life of London. Famous writer Michael Young entrusts her with transcribing his diaries and invites her to spend the summer in the south of France with his family. On the sea coast, Leah, with all the passion of her youth, gives herself over to fun, new acquaintances and enjoys complete freedom. But the deeper Leah delves into the memories of Young's turbulent youth in 1960s Soho, the more the lines between past and present, truth and deception, blur for her. But one thing haunts Leah: why did Michael Young give her the job? In a provocative new novel, Francesca Reece explores men's and women's views on the nature of desire and ambition and how far people are willing to go for it..