The Perfect Capital

Book excerpt: “Like a Gill inscription itself: controlled, full of sexual tension, human, sensitive and with all this, rather wild and a bit unsettling.” - Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley Maud is dedicated to the art of lettercutting. Whilst observing a century-old inscription carved by Eric Gill into the outside wall of a London church, she is mistaken by Edward for a prostitute. She accepts his offer. Why does a woman seeking the precision and discipline of perfect letterforms abandon herself so recklessly to the undisciplined and all too imperfect world of Edward? What does rich, hedonistic city banker Edward see in the purposeful and unmaterialistic woman who is at least ten years older than his normal bedmates... and one still pining for her husband from whom she is separated? Lettercutting becomes not just a background, but an analogy for the search for perfection in an imperfect world. Can such shallow beginnings lead to a relationship that carves itself into their souls? The answer comes as a surprising end to this powerful and witty debut novel.