By Battersea Bridge

Description

A startlingly beautiful novel about the complications of family relationships by highly acclaimed novelist Janet Davey Anita Mostyn feels the need to take a holiday from her life. As a child, she was dismissed by her parents in favour of her more confident brothers, and as an adult, her choices are disapproved of - the small art gallery she works for, the friends she makes, the men she sees. On a whim, she takes up an offer to scout for holiday properties in Bulgaria, escaping the impending second wedding of her perfect brother. But as Anita navigates these difficult waters, a horrifying episode in her past - the thing she has really been trying to escape - comes back to haunt her.

Janet Davey was born in 1953. She is the author of English Correspondence, which was longlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize, First Aid and The Taxi Queue. She lives in London.

A triumph -- Susie Boyt * Independent * So deliciously written that it's worth re-reading to savour the images she conjures up...it's a joy to read -- Clare Colvin * Daily Mail * We're lucky to have such an intelligent chronicler of our present - and of the dirty, noisy beauty of contemporary London -- Tessa Hadley * Guardian * Easy to read and oddly compelling...a memorable, and very clever, book -- Lucy Atkins * Sunday Times * Funny and real as well as impressively sympathetic...this perceptive, engaging little novel says a great deal about human vulnerability, resilience and the passivity that too often goes unnoticed. -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *