Apology for a Hero

Charles Candy is cantankerous, old fashioned, set in his ways; settled with his wife in a beautiful house in Cornwall, he's also quite content. But all of this changes when his sister-in-law Perry comes to stay. She's a spiritual hobo - independent, erratic, rootless and romatic - and Charles finds himself inexplicably attracted to her, and having to face up to the truth about who he really is.

Depicting their burgeoning relationship with both sharp humour and poignant sadness, Barker's first novel once more reveals her incredible grasp of human emotions, as already seen in her short fiction. It's an engaging, enjoyable, hugely skilled debut novel.