2011 Winner:
New York, August 1974. A man is walking in the sky and the city stands still, captivated by this sight, awe and disbelief filling the streets. Philipe Petit is making his famous tightrope walk across the World Trade Centre and the lives of seven people will change forever: the Christ-like Corrigan, an Irish priest living in the Bronx with a conclave of hookers; a young woman artist in trouble with drugs and her marriage; a thirteen year old photographer obsessed with graffiti; a Park Avenue mother struggling to come to terms with the death of her son in Vietnam; her husband, a judge in a downtown court; Lillie the hooker; Gloria, her neighbour, whose life will collide with hers. Set against a time of sweeping political and social change this novel weaves together the intimacies of human life whilst vividly capturing the effervescent spirit of an age.