Sarabande In Blue

A family saga based on a true story

A middle-aged woman called Eliza stands in a courtroom, about to be sentenced for what appears to be a very serious crime. Her friend, Alice, watches from the public gallery, blaming herself.

What is the nature of this crime? And why does Alice feel guilty? The truth is slowly revealed as we follow the course of Eliza’s life, first as a young mill worker in the model village of Saltaire, then as the wife of a First World War veteran who remains traumatised by memories of the trenches, and finally as the mother of two daughters, one of whom proves to be academically brilliant.

Set in Yorkshire and wartime Margate, the novel traces Eliza and her family’s struggles to make their way in a world beset by conflict and hardship. In the terrible climax, Eliza faces a crisis that threatens to ruin everything the family has worked for. Unable to see a way out, she feels compelled to take a decision which has far-reaching consequences for them all.