The Illusionist

A quietly devastating novel of love, marriage and the complexity of relationships...

When Stella first meets Martyn, hes just a stranger on a train. She knows nothing at all about him. But very quickly she is won over by his charm and breathtaking illusions, and when he asks her to marry him, she agrees.

As they begin their life together, Stella starts to feel uneasy. What exactly is the show-stopping illusion he claims to be working on, locked away in that room? Who are those men that visit the house at strange hours? And why are her questions never answered? As Stella realises that she barely knows the man she married, her thoughts turn to escape.

The Illusionist is a carefully understated, beautifully told novel of the secrets in a marriage, and the twists of family life.

An immaculate artist: understated, unshowy, a careful and economical craftswoman of language and all the loose, unwieldy stuff of emotionScotsman