One of Britain’s favourite chroniclers of life and the rural dream returns with a compelling story of a family divided by war

'Wonderful writer ... Incredible books' David Baldacci, New York Times

'She writes beautifully ... Combining, with apparent ease, emotion and admirable precision' Independent on Sunday

Bruised and brutalised by war, Michael returns to England on a troop ship, unable to face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he boards a train heading to the western tip of Cornwall. In doing so he changes his destiny.

More than fifty years later, Kit, a charming stranger, arrives in a coastal Norfolk village to take up his inheritance – a decommissioned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past. Meanwhile Luisa falters in the flow of her life as her children begin to fly the nest and she is left suspended, without direction. When Kit and Luisa meet, neither can escape the consequences of Michael’s split-second decision made all those decades ago.

Wonderful writer ... Incredible books * David Baldacci, New York Times *
Raffaella Barker is the most romantic and generous writer. Her writing manages to be domestic and glamorous simultaneously, and this is her best book yet * Louisa Young bestselling author of My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You *
I love Raffaella Barker’s books * Maggie O’Farrell *
[A] dreamy poetic novel, full of references to Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse ... Beautifully written ... Perfect for a hammock on a sunny day * Wendy Holden, Daily Mail *
She writes beautifully ... Combining, with apparent ease, emotion and admirable precision * Independent on Sunday *
Poetic * New York Times *
Raffaella Barker is a writer of talent * Times Literary Supplement *
To write well and with such open-hearted affection is an achievement * Observer *

Raffaella Barker, daughter of the poet George Barker, was born and brought up in the Norfolk countryside. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels: Come and Tell Me Some Lies, The Hook, Hens Dancing, Summertime, Green Grass, A Perfect Life and Poppyland. She has also written a novel for young adults, Phosphorescence. She is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph, and teaches on the Literature and Creative Writing BA at the University of East Anglia and the Guardian UEA Novel Writing Masterclass. Raffaella Barker lives by the sea in north Norfolk.

www.raffaellabarker.co.uk