Spring

 by David Szalay.  Set in London, Spring unfolds around the lives of James and Katherine. James is at a low point in his life. After the dot-com bust of 2006 and a failed business venture, he has sunk his last assets into a race horse with a marginal track record. He meets Katherine, a hotel manager, at the start of a blustery British spring and clings pathetically to her affection as his last hope for happiness. Katherine, however, is anything but happy to let down her guard. After dating a married man, she waffles in and out of love with James, creating a hot-and-cold romance with him that verges on the torturous. Szalay, who was listed as one of the Daily Telegraph's 20 best writers under 40, gets to the heart of what it means to encounter disappointment and heartache. His characters, particularly James, are skilled in picking up the pieces of their broken lives and moving on to something better, however elusive better may prove to be. --Booklist (Check Catalog)