The Arsonist

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Senator’s Wife, a sophisticated and subtle novel about a family and a community tested when an arsonist wreaks havoc in a small town

'Brilliant' THE TIMES'A finely observed study of identity and belonging' MAIL ON SUNDAY Fleeing the end of an affair, and troubled by the feeling that she belongs nowhere after working in East Africa for fifteen years, Frankie Rowley comes home to the small New Hampshire town of Pomeroy and the farmhouse where her family has always summered. On her first night back, a house up the road burns to the ground. Is it an accident, or something more deliberate? During the following weeks, as Frankie comes to recognise her father’s slow failing and her mother’s desperation, and tentatively gets to know the new owner of the local newspaper, another house burns - and then another. These frightening events crack open the deep social fault lines in the town, raising questions about how and where one ought to live, and what it really means to lead a fulfilling life. What readers are saying about The Arsonist:'A stonking good read''A treat''I love Sue Miller and would recommend any of her books; she is a tremendous writer''I could not put it down''A lovely narrative that will never leave me. Five stars''I loved every page'