Windmill Hill

Charming and shocking MICK HERRON
Intriguing, brilliantly told NINA STIBBE
Compulsive CLARE CHAMBERS
Rich in charm and surprisesGUARDIAN
Mysterious, moving and ingenious PHILIP PULLMAN

In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady sparks an international scandal. It wrecks Astrids dazzling stage career and destroys her marriage to charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes.

Magnus becomes globally famous, while Astrid retreats to a dilapidated Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, in eccentric poverty, with her housekeeper turned best friend, Mrs Baker. But Mrs Baker has a dark past too. There is an Awful Incident at the windmill; police come knocking. Are these two old ladies really as innocent and vulnerable as they seem?

Then Astrid learns that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a memoir that will expose the glamour and forgotten crimes of her past. Furious, she heads to Scotland, determined to stop him, whatever it takes . . .

Part literary thriller, part love story, Windmill Hill is a captivating exploration of unseen lives, the histories that shape us, and the unyielding strength of two indomitable women.

Praise for Lucy Atkins:

A deft display of Lucy Atkinss talents as a delicate observer of human natureARIFA AKBAR
Intelligent and grippingGOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Mesmerising . . . beautifully writtenLITERARY REVIEW
Cleverly constructedWOMAN & HOME
It was an utter joy to relish Atkinss wonderfully skilled and unobtrusive writingSARAH PERRY
Sly, witty and gripping . . . I loved itNAOMI ALDERMAN
A sinewy, supple and gorgeously satisfying triumphLUCY MANGAN