Product Description

With the death of a mother and the abduction of a young girl, Susan Fletcher has written a vividly beautiful novel about the innocence and terror of childhood. Following the loss of her mother, eight-year-old Evie is sent to a new life in rural Wales -- a dripping place, where flowers appear mysteriously on doorsteps and people look at her twice. With a sense of being lied to she sets out to discover her family's dark secret -- unaware that there is yet more darkness to come with the sinister disappearance of local girl Rosemary Hughes. Now many years later Eve Green is waiting for the birth of her own child, and when she revisits her past something clicks in her mind and her own reckless role in the hunt for Rosie's abductor is revealed...A truly beautiful and hypnotic first novel, this is both an engaging puzzle and an enchanting work of literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31349 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'This is my kind of heroine -- that good mixture of romance and spirit, courage and self-doubt -- steered through a gripping rite of passage towards a disturbing -- but ultimately wholly satisfying -- conclusion. I couldn't put it down. Susan Fletcher is a clever, assured writer who can write truthfully about love in its many guises' Mavis Cheek 'A most impressive debut. The writing is lyrical, the characters are vivid and alive and the story makes you want to really turn the pages. In red-haired, mother-less Eve Green, Susan Fletcher gives you a heroine you won't forget.' Marika Cobbold

Marika Cobbold
'A most impressive debut...the story makes you want to really turn the pages.'

Observer
'an exceptional debut of grace and subtlety.'

Customer Reviews

Slow Read
Couldnt really get into this book - took me ages to read it which is unusual for me. It is not a book I will remember. Didnt find the characters strong and the story sort limped along.

Lovely, but difficult to love
The writing is beautiful, the first few chapters are amazingly descriptive, and then about a third of the way through I just stopped caring about the book. There seemed to be too much going on, and at the same time too little to make me want to find out what happened next. The only character I really cared about was Eve's mother, none of the other's really came to life, which is ironic as Eve's mother dies at the very beginning of the book. I think the story could have been told in a shorter book. I wish Susan Fletcher every success as she's clearly a very talented writer but I would be inclined to borrow rather than buy this book.

Hey Ho, R and J.
You would have to go a long way to find three chapters as emotive as the first few here. The words are simple and convey so much. Well written, with seamless switching between times that is an achievement of expert subtlety. The excellent quality does taper away however, but there are no especial troughs in a generally well balanced novel. Ordinarily I would not have read this because it has Richard and Judy written all over it, hey ho. The type of book that falls off the shelf for you and then you cannot stop reading. Ignore all that commercial stuff in the final pages!