Love In The Present Tense (Abridged ed)

Mitch is a 25-year-old with commitment issues. Leonard is a five-year-old kid with asthma and vision problems, who captivates everyone he meets.

Pearl is Leonard's teenage mother, who's trying to hide a violent secret from her past.

Life has given Pearl every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbour, Mitch.

Then one day, with a heart full of agony, Pearl drops Leonard off with Mitch and never returns. Pearl, Leonard and Mitch each have a story to tell and as their lives unfold, profound questions arise about the nature of love and family.

How do you go on loving someone who isn't there? With Leonard's absolute conviction in 'forever love' always present, Leonard and Mitch grow up side by side and piece together the layered truths and fictions of their almost magical lives.

The answers are heartbreaking, but ultimately triumphant.