Nicci Gerrard writes for the Observer and is the co-author, with Susan French, of the bestselling Nicci French thrillers. She lives in Suffolk with her husband and four children. Her first solo novel, Things We Knew Were True, was published by Penguin in 2003 and received rave reviews. This is her second novel.

Later, everyone who loved Johnny Hopkins had different ways to describe how what happened changed their world.

When Isabel's son Jonny goes to university, she is bereft.

Then Jonny stops returning phone calls. He doesn't reply to letters. When Jonny's father, Felix, rings the university, he finds out that Jonny is no longer there.

He's no longer anywhere.

But he must be somewhere - surely?

This is not Jonny's story. It's the story of his mother and father. His sisters. His friends. The people who love him. The people he's left behind.

It's a story about what we do when the unthinkable happens. It is also a story of coping, of hope - and of love.