The Forgotten Island

Helen has just turned eleven. It is summer and she is in Bella Terra, an island off Italy where her family spend an idyllic few months each year. This time, though, everything is different. Her parents' marriage is simmering with tension; Lea, her thirteen-year-old sister, is becoming increasingly rebellious. Mr Peters, their artist neighbour, and the Ashtons, glamorous friends of Helen's mother, add to the strain. It will be a hot, blue summer, a summer of love affairs, heartbreak and loss of innocence. And it will ultimately lead to a disappearance ... With great skill and artistry, Tbe Forgotten Island builds up to the haunting moment when a young girl's life is changed for ever. Evocative, nuanced, sensual, this is mesmerising storytelling.