Truestory by Catherine Simpson, £8.99
Set on an isolated, ramshackle farm in Lancashire, Alice’s life with her slobbish husband Duncan and autistic son Sam is not the one she dreamed of. Duncan’s various farming schemes always end in disaster, Sam will not leave the farm and money is running out. Her only time 'off' is two hours in Lancaster on a Tuesday afternoon - and even that doesn't always pan out to be the break she needs. Then Duncan brings Larry, a rootless wanderer, to the farm to embark on yet another harebrained money making scheme they've dreamed up. Alice is hostile but Larry gradually finds a way to reach Sam and beguiles him with tales of travel in the outside world and, soon, Alice begins to fall for him, too. By turns blackly comic, heart-breaking and heart-warming, ultimately Truestory is a tale of hope.
CAROLINE REECE
WATERSTONES KENDAL
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