The Vet's Daughter

INTRODUCED BY JANE GARDAM

''A small Gothic masterpiece . . . I have read it many times, and with every re-read I marvel again at its many qualities'' SARAH WATERS

''It projects its fantastic story with a tangible realness . . . A wonderful and original novel'' ALAN HOLLINGHURST

''She shows mastery of the structures of a fast-moving narrative and a consistent backdrop to the ecstasies and agonies of the human condition'' JANE GARDAM, SPECTATOR

Growing up in Edwardian South London, Alice Rowlands longs for romance and excitement, for a release from a life that is dreary, restrictive and lonely. Her father, a vet, is harsh and domineering; his new girlfriend brash and lascivious. Alice seeks refuge in memories and fantasies, in her rapturous longing for Nicholas, a handsome young sailor and in the blossoming of what she perceives as her occult powers.

A series of strange events unfolds that leads her, dressed in bridal white to a scene of ecstatic triumph and disaster among the crowds on Clapham Common. The Vet''s Daughter is a uniquely vivid, witty and touching story of love and mystery.