Until her French father walks out of her life at twelve Helen Wilton is H l ne Fournier. Apart from her name, the plucky, smart and affectionate young girl also loses an indefinable part of her essence.Helen grows up to become a mass of intriguing contradictions: as warm-hearted as she is sharp-witted, as steadfast in her friendships as she is eclectic in her loves, as worldly and stylish as she is bookish and academic. And when she gets tripped up by the contradictions - or by the absurd and confusing vagaries of love - Helen picks herself up and gets on with it because she's too much of a one-off to wait around to be rescued.Maybe she'll never stop having to pick herself up. Or maybe she'll realize that rediscovering the inner H l ne and facing the loss of her father are the keys to her future ... and to finding real love.In this stunning debut novel Alison Jameson has created a captivating heroine and written a wonderfully witty, tender, knowing and truly original story of modern love.