While on vacation with their parents, Matthew Homes and his older brother snuck out in the middle of the night. Only Matthew came home safely. Ten years later, Matthew tells us, he has found a way to bring his brother back…

What begins as the story of a lost boy turns into a story of a brave man yearning to understand what happened that night, in the years since, and to his very person. Unafraid to look at the shadows of our hearts, Nathan Filer’s rare and brilliant debut Where the Moon Isn’t shows us the strength that is rooted in resilience and love.

“In this very assured debut, performance poet and mental-health nurse Filer shows that he knows what he’s writing about. It should prove catnip to book group participants (especially those who loved Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and will appeal to anyone looking for a serious (but not ponderous) story that’s impossible to put down. Readers might even end up seeing some similarities between their lives and the “cut and paste kind of life” Matthew lives as a “service user” in a National Health Service facility.” Library Journal

“British first-novelist Filer is a mental-health nurse who, having worked as a researcher on inpatient psychiatric wards, writes with authority and sympathy about schizophrenia and Matthew’s life as both inpatient and outpatient. The story Filer tells is deeply affecting and insightful in its account of mental illness. And Matthew is a character the reader won’t soon forget.“ – Booklist