A Stone's Throw, By Fiona Shaw

This charged family saga charts sexual mores over three generations. In the early days of the Second World War a young woman, Meg Bryan, boards an ocean liner for a new beginning as a colonial wife in South Africa.

Having reared three children, she and her husband eventually return to England where their teenage son strikes up a passionate relationship with a fellow six-former.

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Echoing his mother's experience, his love life proves a far from straightforward affair.

Shaw handles her material with confidence and skill. An accessible novel, it is shot through with moments of pure poetry.