When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it's meant to be a fresh start. But when one of her students starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late? At once a breathless battle-of-wits and a disarming exploration of sexual politics, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times.