Mouse de Bruin is under siege. Without a voice since the age of six, she is trying to work things out about the world.She and her mother have moved into a rented Pennine farmhouse in which reminders of the man who lived there previously, William Crosby, lie all around her. Fighting to hold the outside world at bay, Mouse becomes increasingly drawn to William, a man who seems to have been haunted by secrets throughout the long life he spent in this house.As Mouse's investigations lead her towards some of the people who knew him, she unearths a collection of letters about William's experience in Europe as a young officer in the chaotic final weeks of World War II. But why, as Mouse begins to uncover the mysteries of William's past life, is she so keen to eliminate all traces of her own?
Two lives, two ages, two secrets cleverly and touchingly braided together by a writer of true merit and humanity -- Jim Crace
Striking ... Betrayals and the truths behind them are at the heart of this powerful book -- Jane Housham Guardian
Moving and beautifully crafted -- David Evans Financial Times
Author
About Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson is a winner of the Portico Prize for Literature for Do White Whales Sing at the Edge of the World? His previous novel, The Visiting Angel, was shortlisted for the 2011-12 Portico Fiction Prize. He has worked in a range of social care settings and is Vice Chairman of the British Association for Supported Employment. He lives in Lancashire.
