International Bestseller: A novel of youthful love and loss and "a powerful evocation of the war years" in England ( The Guardian).On a hot August evening in 1939, cousins Oliver, Calypso, Polly, Walter, and Sophy spent one last night together, celebrating the end of summer, at the home of their aunt and uncle. Now, forty years later, as the motley cast of characters drive to the funeral of one of their own, they recall how important that night t...

A smart, sharply written novel from a talent whose "fresh and original" works made her one of England's most beloved authors ( The New York Times).Abandoned by her mother and betrayed by the men she thought she loved, Juno Marlowe is alone. So alone that when the air raid sirens ring out, she has nowhere to hide until a kind but frail man offers to take her in for the night. Her sad story inspires him to write her a letter of introduction to his family—a c...

A young single mother funds her son's education in a most unusual way in this "delightfully lighthearted" novel from a beloved bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews).Ever since a pregnant and unmarried Hebe was forced to leave her grandparents' home in disgrace, she has put the needs of her son, Silas, first. Paying his tuition to an elite prep school comes before everything, and she will do whatever it takes to make ends meet—even offering some quite singula...

Hebe sits in the darkness and listens to her hypocritical grandparents and her older siblings discuss how her unexpected pregnancy must be terminated to avoid the shame it will bring. Determined to raise her child, she flees into the night with only her mother's jewellery to support her.Twelve years later she is living happily alone in Cornwall, whilst her son attends an expensive private school. Hebe has harnessed her two great talents - cooking and making love - to make a living ...

Laura Thornby is independent, individual and perfectly in control of her life. Her affairs are brief but delightful, her career fulfilling and she copes with her two rather peculiar relatives and the gossip about her parentage with wryness and humour.But then she meets twenty-three-year old Claude, a struggling writer, and she is overcome by an irresistible desire to interfere, manipulate and experiment - all for his own good, of course.What Laura does not foresee, however,...

Flora Trevelyan is a ten-year-old misfit, despised by her selfish and indolent parents, and left to wander the streets of a small French town whilst her parents prepare to depart for life in colonial India. There she befriends the locals, acquires an extensive vocabulary of French foul language and encounters the privileged lifestyle of the elegant, middle-class British families holidaying in 1920s France.Introduced for the first time to kindly, civilised and, above all, caring peo...

Henry Tillotson, a generous, genial man who inherited his father's philanthropic attitude along with his beautiful house, rescues Margaret from a disastrous marriage in Egypt and brings her home to the West Country as his new wife. On the threshold she gives him a black eye and retires straight to bed where she remains, apart from the occasional malevolent outburst, for the rest of her life.Over the years two young couples become regular if uneasy houseguests, listening, speculatin...

Matilda Poliport, recently widowed and largely estranged from her four adult children, has decided to End It All. She has cleaned her cottage, given away her beloved pet goose and burnt any incriminating letters. Now all that remains for her to do is eat her picnic, take her pills and swim out into the ocean. But her meticulously planned bid for graceful oblivion is interrupted when she foils the suicide bid of another lost soul - Hugh Warner, on the run from the police - and life begins a...

When, on the night of their wedding, Ned asks his new wife Rose to promise that she will never leave him, Rose is quick to give her aristocratic husband her word: keeping it, however, proves harder.For even on the day when she has promised to forsake all others, Rose's heart is with the true love of her life, Mylo, the penniless but passionate Frenchman who, within five minutes of their meeting declared his love and asked her to marry him.Whilst Rose remains true to her pro...

Three touching contemporary British novels of love, loss, and humor from the international bestselling "virtuoso" ( The Times, London).Jumping the Queue: This masterpiece of wit, humor, and psychological suspense tells the story of a middle-aged widow who has had it with life. She puts her papers in order, gives away her pet goose, packs a picnic lunch, and heads to the beach to drown herself—only to meet a criminal on the run who has the same ide...

Three touching contemporary British novels of love, romance, and humor from the "high-spirited and inventive" international bestselling author ( The Daily Telegraph).The Vacillations of Poppy Carew: Poppy embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery after inheriting her father's fortune. Traveling from England to Africa and back again, she must choose her future from a band of eccentric suitors.Not That Sort of Girl: Rose ...

Before her death in 2002, Mary Wesley told her biographer Patrick Marnham: 'after I met Eric I never looked at anyone else again. We lived our ups and downs but life was never boring'. Eric Siepmann was her second husband and their correspondence charted their life together (and apart) with unusual candour and spirit.These remarkable letters, which were inspired by Mary's great love story with Eric, were also the means by which the novelist found her voice. Entrusted to Marnham in ...