Dorothea looked out of the nursery window. Hours and hours had passed and her papa had not come. He was not going to come. Abandoned by her father and left in the care of an uncle she has never met before, eight-year-old Dorothea Ryan finds herself cast away in a big strange house in the middle of the countryside. No one seems to want her. Her one wish is to return to her old home in London. But as time passes and hopes of ever going back start to fade, Dorothea becomes more and more enmeshed in her new life at Clifton Park. She begins to wonder just where home really is....This beautifully written story of identity and loyalty pulls the reader deep into contemplation, leaving them emerging, triumphant, from a stupor of remarkable storytelling.

Lydia Taylor's dog is dead. A gift from her ex-boyfriend, Prize has been her companion for more years than she cares to think about. Now, nearing forty, in mourning and haunted by the ghost of her mother, Lydia finds herself acting in ways she never expected - not least when she seduces eighteen-year-old Dean Morley by the side of a country lane. In trying to extricate herself from this moment of madness, Lydia unwittingly gets involved in organizing an exhibition of village artwork. The exhibition takes on a life of its own, but to Lydia it is an imposition; to Imelda Darkley - lady of the manor and doyenne of the parish council - the exhibition is anathema; but to Dean's mother Gwen it proves to be unexpectedly liberating.... With a cast of superbly drawn characters this witty and insightful story delves deep into village life and captures finely depicted personalities with all their strengths, desires and foibles.

I hated my father. Absolutely loathed him,' said the old lady. The policeman wondered if the old dear was right in the head...In the autumn of 1940, 91-year-old Letitia Warner is determined to take her secrets with her to the grave. All that matters to her now is her dearly loved great-nephew, Hugh. As the war progresses and London is ravaged by bombs, Hugh's chance meeting with a girl he knew years before weakens Letitia's efforts to subdue her own long repressed memories of her husband and hated father, the Bishop of Chanderton. Should she tell? Or keep silent and try to cling on long enough to see Hugh happy and settled before she dies.