July 2010 Debut of the Month.

A debut novel exploring the loneliness, secrets and silences that haunt even the most loving of families and how some bonds, against all odds, can never be broken.

Synopsis

What would you do if you were invisible to your husband and your teenage son? How would you feel if they no longer spoke to you; if you knew your husband had had an affair? And what if your mother, a life-long alcoholic, had just suffered a stroke and become completely dependent on you? Above all, what if you were nurturing a secret grief so bitter and painful that it was consuming you from within?

Now imagine that one day you won £30,000. Would you take the money and walk away?

When Carol Ann disappears without trace from her middle-class life in Scotland, she leaves behind a troubled family struggling to come to terms with their past. But the secrets that drove them apart follow her to a new life in Ireland, where she is pursued by memories, particularly
of the mysterious Josie. But who was Josie and why does she have such power over the family?

Reviews

‘I was driven to the ending . . . very good indeed’ Melvyn Bragg

About the Author

Catherine Deveney, an award-winning features writer for Scotland on Sunday, lives in Rosshire, Scotland, with her family. Ties that Bind is her first novel. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation