Set in mid-century Rome and England, this forbidden slow-burn love story will take your breath away

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE

SHORTLISED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR FICTION

'If I had to pick a favourite from the year so far, it would be this' - Pandora Sykes

‘Lush, evocative and sexy’ – The Sunday Times

'A thrilling love story of intellect and passion' – The Observer

'Truly outstanding: clever, passionate and as clean as a bone' – Melissa Harrison

'A heady brew . . . Pulsing with sensuality' - Daily Mail

'I couldn't put it down' - Independent

Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. Devotion to God is all he’s ever known.

In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Committed to living on her own terms without sacrificing her faith, she becomes drawn to a women’s movement challenging the archaic rules of the Church.

When they are thrown together in David's countryside parish, something ignites in each of them, and so begins a decades-long secret with consequences that will reverberate throughout the generations.

READERS LOVE A PRIVATE MAN

‘I just love everything about this book’ *****

‘Lives and breathes along with you as you read’ *****

‘Radiating warmth, tinged by inevitable sadness. I loved it’ *****

‘Beautifully written and deeply moving’ *****

‘A work of quiet power that leaves you bereft at its end’ *****