An exceptionally mature and tautly written first novel reminiscent of Josephine Hart's Damage. Haunted by childhood loss, 23-year-old Louise takes on her late mothers name and sets out to find Nicholas, the man she has always held responsible for her mothers death. Now a middle-aged lecturer, husband and father, Nicholas has nevertheless been unable to shake off the events of his past, when he and Louises mother, Lydia, had a clandestine, destructive and ultimately tragic affair. As Louise infiltrates his