Half Moon Lake — Una Brankin

An exceptionally evocative first novel of young love and nostalgic regret 'Sometimes it takes a long, long time to know that love and hate can co-exist quite comfortably in the soul, but I learned quickly.' Grace grew up in the shadow of her widowed mother and her superstitious, overbearing neighbours in the remote town of Preachers Bay, Northern Ireland. When one summer evening, a stranger knocked on their door, desperately seeking refuge, Grace helped to nurse him back to health. At last she experienced the love that she had innocently yet dementedly craved and that had long been denied. Now, two decades later, as she lies in a hospital bed in semi-consciousness, Grace thinks back to her childhood and that steamy summer of 1976. Finally, we learn the truth behind her lifelong reclusiveness, her relationship with her mother and her first love.