Windmill Hill

''Charming and shocking'' MICK HERRON''Intriguing, brilliantly told'' NINA STIBBE''Compulsive'' CLARE CHAMBERS''Rich in charm and surprises'' GUARDIAN''Mysterious, moving and ingenious'' PHILIP PULLMANIn the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady sparks an international scandal. It wrecks Astrid''s dazzling stage career and destroys her marriage to charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes.Magnus becomes globally famous, while Astrid retreats to a dilapidated Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, in eccentric poverty, with her housekeeper turned best friend, Mrs Baker. But Mrs Baker has a dark past too. There is an ''Awful Incident'' at the windmill; police come knocking. Are these two ''old ladies'' really as innocent and vulnerable as they seem?Then Astrid learns that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a memoir that will expose the glamour and forgotten crimes of her past. Furious, she heads to Scotland, determined to stop him, whatever it takes . . .Part literary thriller, part love story, Windmill Hill is a captivating exploration of unseen lives, the histories that shape us, and the unyielding strength of two indomitable women.Praise for Lucy Atkins:''A deft display of Lucy Atkins''s talents as a delicate observer of human nature'' ARIFA AKBAR''Intelligent and gripping'' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING''Mesmerising . . . beautifully written'' LITERARY REVIEW''Cleverly constructed'' WOMAN & HOME''It was an utter joy to relish Atkins''s wonderfully skilled and unobtrusive writing'' SARAH PERRY''Sly, witty and gripping . . . I loved it'' NAOMI ALDERMAN''A sinewy, supple and gorgeously satisfying triumph'' LUCY MANGAN

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