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The candles were used as a sign, a long time ago. Perhaps they stand for more now, for the layers of secrets, for three generations of recurring stories.Growing up after the war in Westmere, an English seaside town, Kitty has been sheltered by her parents, but meeting Danny changes all of that. She decides to leave everyone and everything she knows to follow Danny to London, in pursuit of glamour and opportunity, and this sets in motion a series of events that will echo down the generations. Over fifty years later, when Kitty's body is found in her beach hut with a suicide note by her side, her great-niece will help to unravel all the secrets which the family has kept hidden over the decades.
'Faultless storytelling . . . Wise, generous, atmospheric'
Observer'Explores familial legacy, generational secrets and the effects of long-lasting trauma with a distinct tenderness'
New Statesman'A writer who never lets you down' Ali Smith
'Duffy is a fearless writer'
Daily Mail
About the author
Dr Stella Duffy is an award-winning writer of seventeen novels, over seventy short stories and fourteen plays. In 2016 she received the OBE for services to the arts. Stella is also a psychotherapist working in private practice and for a low-cost community mental health service. She has recently completed her doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy, researching the embodied experience of post-menopause.
Her website is: www.stelladuffy.blog
Summary
A compelling novel about family secrets and the legacy of trauma, set against the changing fortunes of an English seaside town, from award-winning writer Stella Duffy.
Foreword
A compelling novel about family secrets and the legacy of trauma, set against the changing fortunes of an English seaside town, from award-winning writer Stella Duffy.
Additional text
A versatile and gifted novelist
