'This is vintage Susan Hill, both in the little worlds she evokes and in her understanding of the relationships between children and adults' Eric Anderson, Books of the Year, Spectator

A young school boy visiting his aunt's country house finds company and friendship with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read, so that it seems nothing can ever intrude upon their closeness. A young country girl fights against becoming a downtrodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another young girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach together. On another beach a more sinister plot unfolds as a gang of boys plan the most wicked deed.