Product Description

Hibou, the remote fermette in the St Sauver region of France, had looked so pretty back in the summer when the Wardle-Smith family had journeyed across the Channel to view it. The life it offered seemed so appealing: sitting outside in the balmy evening sunshine enjoying some of the local wine with the property's owner, sculptor Bernard Metz. It should have been the stuff dreams are made of; somewhere that Tom's wife, Cathy, could recover from her deepening depression, and where their children, Flora and Max, could experience a less frenzied way of life...and, of course, it would have been one in the eye for the smug Simistons back in England. But for the unlucky Wardle-Smiths the dream wasn't to come true and their plans for a new life are sabotaged from the start: missing furniture, no plumbing or electrics, an eerie cave at the back of the fermette where small bones are discovered...and, worst of all, the ultimate neighbour from hell. Veal farmer Samson Bonneau, the Wardle-Smiths' new neighbour, is not pleased to be sharing his village with les anglais, and he will stop at nothing to scare them from their new home, much to the chagrin of his elderly mother Liliane. Meanwhile, his barbaric farming methods are being investigated by the beautiful and forthright Natalie Musset, a motorbike-riding member of the League of St Francis. As their paths cross, the lives of the Wardle-Smiths, Natalie and the Bonneaus all change irrecoverably. Almost everyone has a secret buried in their past, but will their shallow graves keep them hidden for long? Be brave and begin the journey that will take you to the heart of France's eerie, unseen side. You may never look at our Gallic cousins the same way again...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #585350 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
'She has unquestionably got what it takes' Publishing News

About the Author
Born in Wales, Sally studied sculpture in Manchester and at St. Martin's, London. She is still a practising and exhibiting artist. Having won an international Short Story competition, she began writing seriously whilst teaching full time and her work has won many awards, including the H. E. Bates Short Story Prize and the Anne Tibble Award for Poetry. She regularly adjudicates national writing competitions and teaches Creative Writing at Leicester University. She divides her time between Wales and France.

Customer Reviews

Secrets from the past reach out to threaten the present
When Tom Wardle-Smith and his family leave their home in Surrey for a new life in France, they are looking forward to an idyllic future. Tom thinks it will give his wife, Kathy, chance to recover from her deepening depression, while their children, Flora and Max, will grow up at a less frenzied pace. But Hibou - the remore fermette in the Midi-Pyrenees which had seemed so attractive when they'd first viewed it - is now a wreck with no electricity, plumbing or furniture. Worse still, their neighbour, veal farmer Samson Bonneau, does not want foreigners in his village and, to the dismay of his elderly mother Liliane, is determined to scare the Wardle-Smiths away and add Hibou to his own land. This determination increases when animal rights activist, Natalie Musset, starts to investigate his barbaric farming methods.

As in Sally Spedding's previous three novels, however, nothing is as straightforward as it first seems and the plot twists and turns in many directions as secrets from the past reach out to the present, placing Tom, Max and Natalie - and even Liliane Bonneau - in ever-growing danger against a strangely beautiful but desolate landscape. Thrills and chills abound as the story builds up to its breath-taking climax. The final twist is the best, however, not least because it is completely unexpected yet totally logical.

"Prey Silence" is another good read and once more I'm looking forward to Sally Spedding's next book.

Another gripping thriller from Sally Spedding
This is a wonderful intense thriller that grips the reader and doesn't let go until the thrilling climax. A very tight story set over the course of a nightmare Easter weekend for the Wardle-Smith family; it paints a truly bleak and sinister picture of rural France at a time when many Brits are packing up their worldly possessions in search of an idyllic rural existence away from these shores. As such it taps into a very current obsession for moving abroad and provides a wonderful glimpse into an altogether darker, more foreboding world than the one most of us expect to encounter when travelling over the channel!

As in her previous novels (Wringland, Cloven and A Night with no Stars) the author reveals her talent for evoking the true nature of a place, complete with its secrets, history and population of characters who are not all they appear to be. The backdrop of small town rural France with all its prejudice, dark secrets and untrustworthy institutions conspire to make the reader fully feel the threat and isolation felt by the key characters.

She also demonstrates her skill for creating a fast-moving thriller that never loses pace and that immerses the reader in the twists and turns of the fortunes of its key characters; Tom Wardle-Smith and Natalie Musset.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the author's previous novels as well as to anyone who enjoys highly charged thrillers which delve deeply into the history and psyche of a place.