Set in a range of deftly realised locations, these compelling stories take the reader from the hutongs of Beijing, on the cusp of change in 1980, to present-day Syria. We meet Mahmoud, confronting his son in the ruins of a museum; Jill, searching for clues to her son-s life in Kenya. Stranded on a nightmarish holiday island, Steve is sure his dark secret can remain hidden, despite an unsettling encounter with a stranger who seems to know everything about him. In suburban Britain, Madeleine faces the loneliness of an empty nest and grapples with the echoes of a past affair. In a small town in the heart of Spain, William discovers that his plans for his dream holiday home - and the fate of his family - are more entwined with the life of his elderly neighbour than he could ever have imagined. Close relationships are stretched to breaking point; past secrets are revealed to haunt the present.
In stories that surprise and
