‘If you liked Atonement by Ian McEwan, you'll love this’ Harper's Bazaar

The bestselling novel from the author of The Snakes, The Outcast is a powerful portrait of unexpected love and treacherous charades against the backdrop of a sleepy post-war English village

August 1957. Lewis Aldridge, straight out of jail, stands alone at a Surrey railway station.

He’s returned to the village where he grew up: the village where, a decade earlier, tragedy tore his family apart, leaving him to a troubled adolescence without a mother and with a father he barely knew.

Now, the only person who understands him is Kit, daughter of a bullying local businessman. Soon they realise that to forge their own futures, they must first confront the darkest secrets of their past.

As family, love, passion, sex and violence become ever more so intertwined, can Kit and Lewis find their way back to each other amidst the chaos?

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‘A tragic account of the devastating effects of parental abuse and the redemptive power of true love’ Guardian

'In the tradition of Remains of the Day...a passionate and deeply suspenseful novel’ Margot Livesey

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WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION

Prizes

Short-listed for Costa First Novel Award 2009 (UK)

An elegant, subtle, haunting novel that stayed with me long after I finished it. Sadie Jones has a long literary future ahead of her -- Tracy Chevalier
The prose is elegant and spare, but the story it reveals is raw and explosive... Devastatingly good' -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *
Jones's story is imbued with brooding atmosphere and drama. Understated and elegantly narrated with attention to period detail, this is a gripping love story with a twist. If you liked Atonement by Ian McEwan, you'll love this * Harper's Bazaar *
Eminently readable first novel....reads like a thriller, the tension and menace build expertly...a powerful, promising first novel * Financial Times *
She writes with simmering intensity... particularly strong on atmosphere... Jones uses small, startling phrases to convey depths of passion and information and she can make seemingly innocuous passages radiate beauty * Sunday Telegraph *
A dark but beautifully written, heart-wringing suspense tale... The claustrophobic, menacing atmosphere of Sadie Jones's page-turning debut never lets up, and that's admirable enough, but it's more than narrative tension that makes the novel special. Her writing is deeply affecting... the quality of the writing and the desire to see justice done keep one reading avidly * Independent on Sunday *
Controlled, insightful first novel... Comparisons with Ian McEwan are inevitable, but Jones's assured, compassionate writing is satisfyingly original * Guardian *
This hotly-tipped debut certainly delivers. The prose is clean and clear; so disciplined and spare * Independent *
Sadie Jones proves she's no novice when it comes to poignant prose with this, her debut novel... The sense of mounting suspense coupled with the beautifully drawn characterisation makes this a novel that's guaranteed to get right under your skin * Glamour *
This elegantly written debut novel brings to life both her alienated and damaged protagonist and the small minded community that condemns him * Sunday Times *

Sadie Jones is the critically acclaimed author of six novels. Her first, The Outcast, won the Costa First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and was a Richard and Judy Number One bestseller. Her second, Small Wars, 2009, was longlisted for the Orange Prize. The Uninvited Guests, was published in 2010. Also a screenwriter, Sadie adapted The Outcast for BBC Television in 2014, directed by Iain Softley and starring George Mackay. Her fourth novel, Fallout, came out the same year, and her fifth, The Snakes in 2019. Her sixth novel, Amy and Lan, was published in July 2022. Sadie is the daughter of the Jamaican screenwriter, novelist and poet, Evan Jones, and British actress, Joanna Jones. She was born and brought up in London, and is married to the architect, Tim Boyd.