Young, Louisa: You Left Early

This memoir from award-winning novelist Louisa Young reflects on a stop-start romance lasting decades with a celebrated composer troubled by alcoholism, who passed away after five years of hard-won sobriety. The overall effect is uplifting and elegiac, presenting the complex effect of addiction on the other partner in a relationship.

Louisa Young was born in London and read history at Cambridge. She co-wrote the Lionboy series with her daughter, and is the author of eight further books including the bestselling My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award, and was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice, and its acclaimed sequels The Heroes' Welcome and Devotion. Her work is published in 36 languages. She lives in London.