Read more
As Britain is pulled towards war, the secrets within two families threaten to tear them apart . . .
It's July 1935 and, on the Sussex coast, sixteen-year-old Hazel is dreading another dull summer - until Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts arrive in town. Hazel soon finds herself befriended by Lucia - upper class, glamorous, and passionate about the cause - but ultimately it is Tom, a Londoner with very different ideals, who ignites the excitement that Hazel craves.
Autumn 1936. Hazel is living in London when an encounter with Tom sends her into freefall. He must never know why she cut off all contact last summer. But Hazel isn't the only one with secrets. Nor is she the only one with a reason to keep the two of them apart . . .
'A story of love across borders, idealism and integrity . . . and a mini-series in the making' Independent on Sunday
About the author
Juliet West worked as a journalist before taking an MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University, where she won the Kate Betts' Memorial Prize. Before The Fall, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the Myriad Editions novel writing competition in 2012. Juliet also writes short stories and poetry, and won the H E Bates short story prize in 2009. She lives in West Sussex with her husband and three children.
Summary
As Britain is pulled towards war, the secrets within two families threaten to tear them apart, in the outstanding novel from Juliet West, The Faithful . . .
July 1935. In the village of Aldwick on the Sussex coast, sixteen-year-old Hazel faces a long, dull summer with just her self-centred mother Francine for company. But then Francine decamps to London with her lover Charles, Oswald Mosley's blackshirts arrive in Aldwick, and Hazel's summer suddenly becomes more interesting. She finds herself befriended by two very different people: Lucia, an upper-class blackshirt, passionate about the cause; and Tom, a young working-class boy, increasingly scornful of Mosley's rhetoric. In the end, though, it is Tom who wins Hazel's heart - and Hazel who breaks his.
Autumn 1936. Now living in London, Hazel has grown up fast over the past year. But an encounter with Tom sends her into freefall. He must never know why she cut off all contact last summer, betraying the promises they’d made. Yet Hazel isn't the only one with secrets. Nor is she the only one with reason to keep the two of them apart . . .
From the beaches of Sussex to the battlefields of civil war Spain, The Faithful is a rich and gripping tale of love, deception and desire.
