1957, and Lewis Aldridge is travelling back to his home in the South of England. He is straight out of jail and nineteen years old. His return will trigger the implosion not just of his family, but of a whole community

Sadie Jones is an important new voice. She writes in beautiful prose of terrible events, demonstrating how love denied brings brutal consequences. She conjures the repressive social climate of the 1950s with awful accuracy, and explores the hearts and minds of young people with forensic skill. A great stylist and fine storyteller. Joan Bakewell


Bought at Edinburgh airport to read on the way back to Finland
A wonderfully assured first novel. Guardian

This is a brilliant debut novel. It deals with an important topic abuse (not sexual) in families - it's real, it's sad and it's shocking.

lending this to a friend

I enjoyed this book, but it was sad and somewhat depressing. Glad it ended on a positive note! Sadie Jones's story revolves around the hidden problem of family abuse and neglect. It demonstrates how through the loyalty of family members both physical and mental abuse continues undetected and quietly denied. A family who seems perfectly happy and functioning normally can actually be most disfunctional and unhappy. Traumas not dealt with can have unforeseeable consequences. We need to talk about unhappy secrets. An impressive debut from a new writer.

I enjoyed this book, but it was sad and somewhat depressing. Glad it ended on a positive note! Sadie Jones's story revolves around the hidden problem of family abuse and neglect. It demonstrates how through the loyalty of family members both physical and mental abuse continues undetected and quietly denied. A family who seems perfectly happy and functioning normally can actually be most disfunctional and unhappy. Traumas not dealt with can have unforeseeable consequences. We need to talk about unhappy secrets. An impressive debut from a new writer.

I enjoyed this book, but it was sad and somewhat depressing. Glad it ended on a positive note! Sadie Jones's story revolves around the hidden problem of family abuse and neglect. It demonstrates how through the loyalty of family members both physical and mental abuse continues undetected and quietly denied. A family who seems perfectly happy and functioning normally can actually be most disfunctional and unhappy. Traumas not dealt with can have unforeseeable consequences. We need to talk about unhappy secrets. An impressive debut from a new writer.

Got this back from my friend :)

surprise RABCK

This lovely surprise was waiting for me in my mail box today when I came home from work, swim and visits to 2 different libraries for my thesis. (AAARGHHH!) Thank you STF, you really cheered me up. :)