'It was at Millie's party, on that Friday evening, that she met her second husband, my stepfather-to-be, and thus changed both our lives . . .'
Zoë is delighted when her widowed mother marries Simon, a generous older man who owns a villa in Nice. However, the long enchanted visits to France she enjoys come to an abrupt end when Simon suffers a bad fall. Zoë and her mother, finding themselves surrounded by well-meaning strangers, must learn how and how not to trust appearances . . .
'One of her very best - possibly her finest . . . reverberates long after it's put down ... Brookner in all her wisdom, eloquence and power' Spectator
Tough, cogent writing, without sentimentality, and its polish never masks its realism. ... Brookner reveals herself as a European novelist and a major one.' -- Helen Dunmore ― The Times
With a steelier grip than almost any other writer, Brookner always reaches out and pulls you in. Her talent for immersing you in the pinched, emotional life of her characters is unparalleled... Her understanding of female loneliness is heart-clenching. -- Julie Myerson ― Mail on Sunday
Achieved with the subtle brilliance for which Booker Prize-winning Brookner has received such acclaim... It is highly unlikely you will read a finer piece of literature this year ― Scotland on Sunday
What a relief it is to read this beautifully crafted prose ― Daily Express
One of Brookner's most subtle, original and emotionally resonant works... She subverts expectations again ― Sunday Telegraph
About the Author
Anita Brookner was born in south London in 1928, the daughter of a Polish immigrant family. She trained as an art historian, and worked at the Courtauld Institute of Art until her retirement in 1988. She published her first novel, A Start in Life, in 1981 and her twenty-fourth, Strangers, in 2009. Hotel du Lac won the 1984 Booker Prize. As well as fiction, Anita Brookner has published a number of volumes of art criticism.
