As If by Isabel Waidner

'A brilliant, strange and tender exploration of what it is to fail, keep failing, and fail better' Sarah Bernstein, author of Study for Obedience

Two men meet in a flat in London. They are total strangers and yet they look remarkably alike. Lewis is grieving his dead wife; Korine is hiding from his very-much-alive one.

Lewis never had children; Korine is an ambivalent parent at best. Lewis is an erstwhile actor, too depressed to attend the big audition that has just fallen into his lap. Korine has tried a dozen dead-end jobs but never pursued his acting dreams.

Two men living mirror image lives. Each seeking a second chance to get things right. Each wanting what the other has.

As If is an existential farce about the road not taken. Surreal and slyly poignant, suffused with ironic melancholia, it is a parable for the twenty-first century everyman: a character trapped in reality’s hall of mirrors, endlessly searching for something to live for.

Format:Hardback 192 pages
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint:Hamish Hamilton Ltd
ISBN:9780241779187
Published:26 Feb 2026
Classifications:The arts: general issues, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction: special features
Weight:252g
Dimensions:204 x 137 x 20 (mm)