The Farm at the Edge of the World

By: Sarah Vaughan

Narrated by: Clare Corbett

The farm sits with its back towards the Atlantic - a long stretch of granite hunkering down. For over 300 years it has stood here, steeped in the history and secrets of one family. A farm at the very edge of the world.

It's 1939, and Will and Alice are evacuated to a granite farm in North Cornwall, perched on a windswept cliff. There they meet the farmer's daughter, Maggie, and, against fields of shimmering barley and a sky that stretches forever, enjoy a childhood largely protected from the ravages of war. But in the sweltering summer of 1943, something happens that will have tragic consequences. A small lie escalates. Over 70 years on, Alice is determined to atone for her behaviour - but has she left it too late?

It's 2014, and Maggie's granddaughter, Lucy, flees to the childhood home she couldn't wait to leave 13 years earlier - marriage over, career apparently ended thanks to one terrible mistake. Can she rebuild herself and the family farm? And can she help her grandmother, plagued by a secret, to find some lasting peace?

This is a novel about identity and belonging; guilt, regret and atonement; the unrealistic expectations placed on children; and the pain of coming of age. It's about small lies and dark secrets. But above all it's about a beautiful, desolate, complex place.

©2016 Sarah Vaughan Limited (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton