Early on we accept that Robert is running away from something. He likes women and travel. He is lonely. He misses his daughter. On an impulse while changing planes to go 'home' to Ireland he abandons his luggage on the Dublin flight and stalks a woman to Brighton. He is not short of money. All is very mysterious and then bang ... The whole scenario changes in a chapter called "Interlude". It seems to come out of nowhere and turns our narrator into a prisoner who is appallingly treated ... Why? ... Well this is just after 9/11. Then we switch back to how he lost his daughter and why, how he turned up in Italy and why and how he survives and makes some sense of a sad life. All highly intriguing. I am a big fan of the author.
It's the start of a stormy, passionate affair when internationally successful singer Siobhan McGovern turns up at the launch of Robert Lanaghan's latest book in Dublin. Though they both love the written word - and each other - they find they come from very different worlds: Robert lives a solitary, quiet life and Siobhan is in the media spotlight every day. And after their daughter Ciara is born, it becomes clear that their relationship is over. Bitter with the way things have turned out, Robert accepts a substantial financial settlement from Siobhan but also signs an agreement never to see his daughter again. He thinks, in the circumstances, it will be best for everyone. But after travelling aimlessly around Europe, spending the money as he goes, his life begins to spiral out of control as he struggles to come to terms with what he has done. Can Robert overcome the disappointments of his past to build a better future?
Adrian White is an English writer who has lived in Ireland for over twenty-five years. His first novel, An Accident Waiting to Happen, was published in print by Penguin Books - as was his second novel, Where the Rain Gets In. Both are now available again in print and in digital. His third novel, Dancing to the End of Love is published by Black & White Publishing of Edinburgh.
