Fiona Melrose

'The storytelling is so addictive. This is sexy, witty, tense and touching - a terrific achievement' Patrick Gale'Even Beyond Death is a remarkable achievement - passionate, witty, and moving. A smart, spirited and highly original historical novel, written with tremendous flair, humour and compassion' Antonia HodgsonEVEN BEYOND DEATH is an account of the life of the 24-year-old Marquis Jehan Beaudelaire - as told to his Scribe.It is 1657, Avignon, and the Marquis needs a wife, an heir and, most pressingly, a new valet. Enter Jonathan Kryk who is . . . oh god he is beautiful. But despite Jehan's wealth, he is caught in a trap of his time and position in society. The man he desires attends to him every day, dresses him, bathes him . . . yet neither can be free with each other. Everywhere there are spies - can his household be trusted? Even his own family? - and the eyes of God and the law are upon them.Unable to live freely as he wishes, Jehan must ask himself what is he willing to risk, for love. EVEN BEYOND DEATH is a sweeping and exquisite 'catalogue of desire' and a heart-breaking story of an agonising, forbidden affair. At once lavish, steamy and dramatic, Fiona Melrose's bold new novel is an intimate depiction of love, passion, tenderness and devotion - even beyond death.

Father and Son, Landyn and Vale Midwinter, are men of the land. Suffolk farmers. Times are hard and they struggle to sustain their property, their livelihood and their heritage in the face of competition from big business.But an even bigger, more brutal fight is a fight between each other, about the horrible death of Cecelia, beloved wife and mother, in Zambia ten years earlier. A past they have both refused to confront until now.Over the course of a particularly mauling Suffolk winter, Landyn and Vale grapple with their memories and their pain, raking over what remains of their fragile family unit, constantly at odds and under threat of falling apart forever. While Vale makes increasingly desperate decisions, Landyn retreats, finding solace in the land, his animals - and a fox who haunts the farm and seems to bring with her both comfort and protection.Alive to language and nature, Midwinter is a novel about guilt, blame and lost opportunities. Ultimately it is a story about love and the lengths we will go to find our way home.