A Spell of Swallows(2016)

Sarah Harrison

Would you risk a stable marriage for a dangerous affair?

Vivien Mariner loves her husband, and is adored by him in return. So why does she find herself so strongly drawn to John Ashe, the enigmatic stranger who appears in Eadenford, as if from nowhere, the summer after the Great War ends? Helping around the house and garden, Ashe quickly makes himself indispensable at the vicarage, insinuating himself ever deeper into village life. As the vicar's wife, Vivien must be above suspicion, but will the dark, dangerous pull of passion prove too strong for her to resist?

The character of John Ashe has been a powerful presence in Sarah Harrison's two novels, Swan Music and The Nightingale's Nest . But only now do we learn the full story of the events that moulded the man. Interweaving a devastating account of the bloody chaos of war with the ruthless seduction of a principled woman, Sarah paints an absorbing picture of the vulnerability of love.