'Offcomer' is a dialect word from the north of England, used to refer to outsiders, to people who do not belong. Jo Baker's powerful first novel tells the story of Claire, a young woman who feels unable to belong anywhere, even in her own skin. OFFCOMER traces Claire's story from school days in Lancashire, through her time as a student in Oxford, until finally, emerging from an unhappy relationship with a young academic, she finds herself adrift and alone in post-ceasefire Belfast. She is forced at last to confront central questions of her life: who is she, and where, if anywhere, does she belong?