‘Now listen carefully. I want you to think of the two most beautiful things in the world. One each – and not just beautiful but most beautiful.’ Richard Yaxley examines the nature of relationships, family and grief in his first novel, The Rose Leopard. Father, writer, self-confessed ‘groin-driven’ lover, Vincent is the dreamer; Kaz his muse and the preserver of their family. After meeting at university, they have forged a powerful partnership against those who don’t understand their shared bond of a love for stories and words. In particular, Vincent rails against Kaz’s family, which disapproves of his apparent fecklessness, and curses his pretentious agent, Stu. His other pet hates include American sitcoms, crowds, the lack of news-papers on Christmas Day and being forced to listen to people. Kaz, by contrast, is an island of calm in a sea of neurosis, an organiser of shopping and schedules.