Disappear

When Leila Bell agrees to spend the summer in rural Spain with her husband Charlie, they both know this is the last chance to save their marriage. But behind the idyllic setting, old secrets and desires are set to unravel. Alone and lost, Leila turns to her long-estranged sister Kate back in London. Kate (who works in a struggling drop-in centre for troubled teenagers) inhabits a world of harsh realities and genuine threat. For Leila, eyes newly opened to the artifice and casual cruelty of her old, monied life, there is a tantalising glimpse of a better, more rewarding life. But revelations are rarely as simple as they first appear and Leila's reappearance in Kate's life after six years will have dark and unsettling repercussions for both of them. With luminous clarity and compassion, Talitha Stevenson explores the relationships that truly matter, and evokes a world where hope can still flourish, even for those who long only to disappear.