September 2009 Book of the Month.

A ghost story … well, maybe a psychological thriller … but then again … it’s a tale of love rediscovered and it’s very clever.  In fact it is all these things as well as being funny and sad and thoughtful.  I think he is a wonderful writer – you must try his first too, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, a perfect gem.

Comparison: Marina Lewycka, Mavis Cheek, Ben Richards.

Synopsis

Michael is dressing for dinner at a friend's country house in Ireland. As he descends the staircase, he spots a small painting of a landing with an old linen press and the white marble statue of an angel. In the background is a woman clad in a dark green dress. During dinner, Michael comments on the painting to his hosts but they say there is no woman in the picture. When Michael goes up to bed later, he sees that they are correct.

This is only the first in a series of incidents that lead Michael to question his grip on reality. His wife Elilzabeth is unsettled by the changes she sees in a man she originally married because he was dependable and steady, not because she loved him. She realises she has never really known Michael and as he changes, she sees glimpses of someone she could fall in love with. Michael, in the meantime, is disturbed by events at his family's ancestral home in the wilds of Scotland and by a past that is threatening to destroy everything, and everyone, he has ever loved.

Reviews

"It seems Paul Torday can do no wrong. The Girl on the Landing is his third book and destined to do as well as the other two."  Caroline Jowett, DAILY EXPRESS
 
"The author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen impresses again with this absorbing tale of identity"  
PSYCHOLOGIES
 
"the finale is terrifying, harking back to old-fashioned ghost stories, but with a modern, plausible twist - it stood the hairs of my arms on end"  Toby Clements, DAILY TELEGRAPH
 
"Torday skilfully maintains a knife-edge tension... an original and satisfying thriller" Michael Arditti, DAILY MAIL
 
"A gently comic novel about schizophrenia sounds like the worst idea ever, but Torday pulls it off magnificently.. a clever, gripping novel" John O'Connell,  THE TIMES

About the Author

Paul Torday was born in 1946 and read English Literature at Oxford. He spent the next 30 years working in industry, after which he scaled back his business responsibilities to fulfil a long-harboured ambition - to write. He burst on to the literary scene in 2006 with SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN, an immediate bestseller. He lives close to the River North Tyne. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation