‘The night we met at a Denver house party she was beaconing like she was on fire, and that night, for the first time, I knew what it was to be consumed by someone - to be swallowed whole just like Jonah; and what it felt like to die a little, wrapped in someone’s arms, knowing that I would have to go back to her wherever she was if I ever hoped to live on complete.’
Neal puts his faith in fate and travels from England to Denver for Louanna; the enigmatic waitress who captured his heart on a journey across America. Told in loose, lyrical prose capturing the excitement and trepidation of new beginnings and the disillusion and despair of separation, The Tortoise and the Greyhound paints a poignant picture of a generation trapped in the waiting room of young adulthood.