Selina Penaluna

Referencing and reminiscent of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, dark desires, deep passions and a vivid landscape combine to create a tale of family life that traverses generations and that startles with its resonance.

Evacuated from London to Cornwall, twins Ellen and Jack harbour opinions regarding their new home that are polar extremes with Ellen feeling liberated and Jack increasingly constrained. The long-term effects and impact of this is heightened when the twins’ home in London is bombed and they are adopted by Clara and Charles Rosewarne. Years later a visit from her granddaughter Cassie brings the past bubbling back into Ellen’s life in this haunting and highly poignant book. Jan Page cleverly evokes myth, adolescent insecurities and inadequacies and the politicised backdrop of war in this accomplished and distinctive work.