Les Scott

An Indian summer, 1942: "When I was thirteen, all I wanted to be was a hero." A young evacuee's response to the surrounding war-obsessed adult world seems the only one available to him, until he forms 'a particular friendship' with another boy, a Jewish refugee. This threatens the stability of his gang (who also mirror the racist/jingoist attitudes of adulthood), and he is caught in Forster's great liberal crux: your country or your friend?

Looks can be deceiving. Peter Kingdom seems to have everything — a man of some standing in the seaside town of Market Shipborough, he dresses well and has all the trappings of success. Why, then, does he wander along the beach and stare out to sea for hours at a time? Despite Peter's thriving legal practice, he must deal with his dysfunctional family (which includes his unstable sister) and his grief over his missing half-brother and law partner, Simon.