Bestselling author of More Lives than One
Sheila Harrison always looks forward to the descent of the summer visitors onto 'Seafret', her tall brick house right on the front at Blythney, in East Anglia. She loves the way her spare bedrooms are full, from June to September, with successive waves of children - schoolfriends of her own three and the waifs and strays sent by the Country Hosts' Association.
But Sheila is not prepared for the upheaval caused by one young girl, Anansi, who arrives from a background that Sheila can only guess at. Urban, streetwise, knowing beyond her years, Anansi refuses to be patronised by Sheila's well-meaning attempts to make her feel at home. She looks at Sheila, her family and friends, with eyes unclouded by familiarity - and drops a bombshell. Even when the dust has settled, summers will never be the same again.
Libby Purves has created a complex and appealing character in a novel which develops to an exciting conclusion - Woman & Home
Purves is at her most enjoyable when she is . . . displaying in her treatment of her characters, the mixture of generosity and common sense with which readers of her columns in The Times will already be familiar - The Times
. . . an engrossing story about childhood, courage and reconciliation - Books Magazine
She orchestrates it all with honesty, ingenuity and sardonic wit. Definitely one to take on holiday - Metro
poignant, intelligent and hilarious - Suffolk & Norfolk Life
Ms Purves softens the sharp edges with a piquancy and humour which are truly brilliant - Huddersfield Examiner