A first class novel of family secrets and tragedy. Michael's passage through life has been as exemplary as it was predictable : Eton, Cambridge and a promising career in the city. All thats missing is a suitable wife, a girl with breeding and good sense who will second him in everything. And then Michael meets and falls for Olivia. Frank, headstrong and unconventional, she turns his well ordered life upside down. Suddenly Olivia disappears, and Michael abandons his city life to go in search of her. The journey ahead demands a courage and tenacity he didn't know he possessed as he follows a trail of torment and personal tragedy. Ultimately, he must unravel a terriblefamily secret to discover what happened in the heat of the moment all those years ago.