Author:Natasha Farrant
Deep in the English countryside, Marshwood has always been much more than just a house. It has been a place to escape to and a trap, the backdrop for elegant parties and a wartime hospital, an idyllic escape from trauma and unhappy marriages. When the roof starts to cave in and the money runs out, eighty-year-old Bella resists the pressure to sell and instead begins to peel back the layers of the past.
As this imposing house gives up its secrets of marriage, war and forbidden love, patterns begin to repeat themselves when Bella's granddaughter's childhood sweetheart returns from the war in Bosnia. Like so many before him, Jack comes seeking solace. But he also wants Isla, who is - who really should be - unavailable to him.
And as all three characters explore whether you can ever truly go back, the past and the present collide with shattering consequences . . .
A wonderful book, intriguing and compelling, with a memorable cast of characters.
—— Katie FfordeStyron has bought to bear his penetrating intelligence and immense skills in confronting explosive themes
—— Financial TimesOne of those quintessentially American writers capable of blending the rugged with the romantic, the macho with the tender
—— Daily Telegraph[A man] whose fiction turned brutal truths into beauty
—— Daily TelegraphA stunning depiction of what might have happened to one of Germany's senior Nazis...a first-rate story that seizes the imagination, and never lets go
—— Daily MailA great thriller from this emerging talent, with a fascinating subject, clever plot and vivid depiction of 1960s Ireland
—— Daily MirrorWildly entertaining, Ratlines is a superb mystery but in addition, a spotlight on a slice of Irish history largely ignored. This is a complex mystery told in the exceptional style that Stuart Neville has made his own. Jameson and Nazis, Irish rebel songs and Charles Haughey, it's a bold and brilliant blend
—— Ken BruenA superbly written, supremely intelligent thriller
—— Mail on SundayAbsolute blockbuster – and one you won’t want to put down
—— Crime ReviewSittenfeld's humour and sharp observation deliver a coming-of-age novel you can relate to
—— Daily Express