This isn’t a sequel to Gale’s Costa-shortlisted A Place Called Winter, but it does begin with that book’s protagonist.
Harry Cane has built a life as a farmer on the vast Canadian plains, and even found comfort in the arms of his brother-in-law (it was a scandal that forced Harry from Edwardian England in the first place). But times are changing, Harry is ageing, and a letter from Betty, the daughter he left behind, is the catalyst for a journey back to 1950s Liverpool.
Harry’s visit is largely a framing device, a pretext for a gentle, absorbing unfolding of the experiences and mores of new generations: housewife Betty; her prisoner governor husband Terry; and her two daughters, lively Pip and highly-strung Whistle.
Drawing substantially on Gale’s own family history, this empathic novel has the texture of social history: expect quiet surprises over sudden twists, and a satisfying, moving conclusion.
