Shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award

'Luminous; a profound portrait of the artist as a young-and mature-woman; an unflinching social history of disability over the last six decades; and a hymn to life, love, family and spirit' David Mitchell

In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. She endures endless medical procedures and is told she will never have a job, a romantic relationship or an independent life. But everything changes when as an adult Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny and dark, and it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening or worthless, instead insisting that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Riva begins to paint their portraits - and her art begins to transform the myths she's been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality and other measures of normal.

'A brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty and wonder' Audrey Niffenegger

'Stunning' Alison Bechdel

'Wonderful. An ode to art and the beauty of disability' Cerrie Burnell

'Vivid . . . unforgettable . . . expands our notion of what constitutes the human experience' Andrew Solomon