With the Nazis bombing London on a nightly basis, many working-class families sent their children to the comparative safety of the countryside. When the Blitz ended, the families came for their kids . . . but no one ever came for Simon Thorn. His name appears on no list of the evacuated children. And none of his meagre belongings offer any clues to his origins.
Now an adult, newly moved to London, Simon is puzzled by an odd sense of familiarity when he walks down certain streets. He remembers his years of terrible nightmaresβnightmares that would cause him to wake up screaming, terrifying his bewildered foster parents. And he resolves, once and for all, to find out where he originally came from . . . even as everything he uncovers suggests that, really, he doesnβt want to know.
Widely praised for his deliciously, maliciously witty mysteries, the multi-award-winning Robert Barnard takes a decidedly different tack in this fascinating novel of wartime London and the dark side of identity.
βAn engrossing tale of a manβs search for his identity and his discovery of an alarming pastβ Publishers Weekly
βThere are shrewd characterisations and villains aplenty in this oddly affecting taleβ Time
βBarnard untangles his riddle with great skill, and I suspect he is going to outwit all but a handful of readersβ New York Times