The new novel from the author of the Sunday Timesbestseller, The Silversmith''s Wife.
Broadstairs, Kent, 1851. Once a sleepy fishing village, now a select sea-bathing resort, this is a place where people come to take the air, and where they come to hide…
Delphine and her cousin Julia have come to the seaside with a secret, one they have been running from for years. The clean air and quiet outlook of Broadstairs appeal to them and they think this is a place they can hide from the darkness for just a little longer. Even so, they find themselves increasingly involved in the intrigues and relationships of other visitors to the town.
But this is a place with its own secrets, and a dark past. And when the body of a young girl is found washed up on the beach, a mysterious message scrawled on the sand beside her, the past returns to haunt Broadstairs and its inhabitants. As the incomers are drawn into the mystery and each others'' lives, they realise they cannot escape what happened here years before…
A compelling story of secrets, lies and lost innocence…
Praise for The Silversmith''s Wife:
''A dense, intricate historical thriller centering around the murder of a silversmith - in the tradition of Iain Pears'' An Instance of the Fingerpostand Hilary Mantel''s Wolf Hall'' Sophie Hannah
''A novel that depends as much on its depiction of character and its evocation of place and time as on the unravelling of a mystery'' Nick Rennison''s Choice, Sunday Times
''Self-assured, page-turning debut which leaves you guessing until the last - a GREAT read'' Daily Mail
