The In-Between Bookstore: A whimsical, time-bending debut about identity, memory, and what we’d say to our younger selves if we had the chance

‘Underhill’s tender, innovative debut is the smartest take on this trope I’ve ever read’ Jodi Picoult, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author

‘Underhill skilfully employs a clever set-up and a queer lens to explore the deep changes we all experience in growing up’ Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle

A whimsical and healing novel about a trans man in New York who – almost 30, laid off, broke – moves back to his small Illinois hometown, walks into the bookstore he worked at in high school… and slips through time to come face to face with his pre-transition, teenage self.

If you had one chance to talk to your younger self… would you? What would you say?

When Darby left Oak Falls for university in New York City, all he wanted was to get as far away as possible, find a community where he could start afresh — and finally forget about his childhood best friend Michael, and just how painfully their friendship ended.

Now, about to turn 30, Darby suddenly finds himself unemployed. With no better alternative, and questioning where he really belongs, he moves back to his hometown. But the changes in Oak Falls make him feel off balance. And Michael’s still there, their relationship still distant and strained.

One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby’s refuge growing up and high school job. When he walks inside, Darby feels an eerie sense of déjà vu – everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the till is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen… a teen who just might give him the opportunity to change his own present for the better – if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.