The compelling new romantic novel from one of Britain's best-loved storytellers Laura Wainwright works as a genealogist near Oxford, in partnership with her father Ronald, a former teacher whose recent divorce and growing deafness have made him increasingly bitter and difficult. When Laura receives an enquiry from a Canadian named Neil Crandel, in England to investigate his forebears, her professional curiosity is aroused ? not least because the only clues Neil can offer to his origins are a few ancient photographs and a piece of lace which turns out to have been bought by a wealthy nineteenth-century manufacturer, George Dallancy, for his daughter Marianne. As Laura investigates, it becomes clear that it is Marianne who is at the heart of this story. Together Laura and Neil unravel the threads of a complicated family history, whilst at the same time dealing with the modern-day problems of Laura's father, and his infatuation with an ambitious lawyer, Kim. As the weeks pass, Laura, still smarting from a recent unhappy love affair, find herself increasingly drawn to the unassuming Canadian . . .