An acid-sharp novel of language and desire from Jonathan Gibbs, acclaimed author of Randall, or The Painted Grape.

When Jenny Thursley, a 40-year old linguistics lecturer, returns to Europe for a conference in Amsterdam, she finds herself pitched back into the presence of a life she had fled. There, she re-encounters a once-inspirational mentor, finds a former lover again within reach, and is surprised by the flickerings of a new longing. Over little more than twenty-four hours Jenny must write a keynote conference speech, face up to her own mortality, and to the consequences of the bad choices she has made – while finding the nerve to make new choices that might be no better. Witty, sexy and provocative, The Large Door is a meditation on life and living, and on ages – golden and otherwise – that recalls the sparkling mid-century work of writers such as Iris Murdoch and Brigid Brophy.

“In his new novel, The Large Door, Jonathan Gibbs captures the academic conference universe to perfection... The fiction is at once beautifully controlled and acrobatic. One always has the sense that a wry intelligence is in charge." — Kate McLoughlin, Times Literary Supplement

Jonathan Gibbs is a writer, critic and lecturer based in London. His novel Randall, or The Painted Grape was published to wide acclaim by Galley Beggar Press in 2014, and has been translated into French and Dutch. It was longlisted for the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize and shortlisted for the inaugural Figaro Prix du Livre de Voyage Urbain. His short fiction has appeared in Best British Short Stories 2014 and 2015 and was shortlisted for the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize in 2013. He lectures in Creative Writing at St Mary’s University, Twickenham.