After her stunning debut novel Diving in to Light Natasha Farrant brings us another beautifully written story with a host of intriguing and well drawn characters. Get the tissues out and the kettle on and settle down with this lovely book.
Deep in the English countryside, Marshwood has always been much more than just a house. It has been a place to escape to and a trap, the backdrop for elegant parties and a wartime hospital, an idyllic escape from trauma and unhappy marriages. When the roof starts to cave in and the money runs out, eighty-year-old Bella resists the pressure to sell and instead begins to peel back the layers of the past. As this imposing house gives up its secrets of marriage, war and forbidden love, patterns begin to repeat themselves when Bella's granddaughter's childhood sweetheart returns from the war in Bosnia. Like so many before him, Jack comes seeking solace. But he also wants Isla, who is - who really should be - unavailable to him. And as all three characters explore whether you can ever truly go back, the past and the present collide with shattering consequences.
Natasha Farrant grew up in the heart of London's French community and currently combines writing with her career as a Literary Scout. She is the author of two successful novels for adults, Diving into Light and Some Other Eden, both published by Transworld. She lives in West London with her husband, two daughters and a large tortoiseshell cat. The Things We Did For Love is her first novel for young adults.
