'This is a wonderfully original and compelling novel that puts you in mind of John le Carré's The Night Manager... it's a thoughtful and sensitive literary thriller... intense, detailed and fast-paced, Ceremony of Innocence is an elegant and satisfying read' Observer --- When a Muslim woman goes missing, a family's entanglement with Britain's imperial legacy comes to light in this evocative page-turner. A Cambridge PHD student, Reem, has gone missing. Last seen in Egypt, her friend Fauzia is seeking answers. However, the trail soon leads back to the Wilcox Smith family, and questions about their shadowy wealth. Spanning decades, and traveling between the Shah's Iran, modern Bahrain, London and the English Countryside, Ceremony of Innocence is a vivid, engrossing story of one family''s ambition and the establishment's ruthless pursuit of power. --- 'A fascinating look at the entanglements of family and secrets against the backdrop of the long shadows of empire, combined with the international power politics of today' Catherine Hall, author of The Repercussions

[A] blend of English country house novel and international intrigue * Daily Mail *
Pulls you in from the first page... Wonderfully original and compelling * Observer *

Madeleine Bunting was for many years a columnist for the Guardian, which she joined in 1990. Her first novel, Island Song, won the Waverton Good Read Award and was shortlisted for the London Magazine Debut Fiction Prize. She is also the author of many non-fiction books, including Labours of Love: The Crisis of Care, which was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, The Plot: A Biography of My Father's English Acre, which won the Portico Prize, and Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey, which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize and the Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year. She is a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics' International Inequalities Institute.