The Clematis Tree

'You want to go on reading, you want to know what happens; it isn't easy to put down' Ruth Rendell A powerful novel about a family, and how their lives are torn apart in a single, devastating moment. Mark and Claire seem an ideal couple. He is an accountant, she the daughter of a successful businessman. They live in a comfortable middle-class village in Surrey. Then, during a party for their daughter Pippa's baptism, their son Jeremy is knocked down on the road outside. It is their worst nightmare, something they thought could never happen, and the consequences will affect each one of them more than they could possibly imagine. What is Claire's guilty secret, and can her wealthy, self-made father help? Will Mark, desperate to escape, have the nerve to leave? And how will Pippa be affected by the turmoil that began on the day of her own christening? 'A compelling story about the way a family copes with a catastrophe' THE TIMES 'A delight, a very polished read' CATHOLIC HERALD 'An accomplished first novel' TATLER 'Humane, thoughtful' HARPERS AND QUEENS