'Ingenious' – The Sunday Times … 'Thoroughly compelling' – Mail on Sunday … 'Addictive' – The Sun
Posted on May 1, 2019 by Isabel Ashdown
Moving between the majestic coastline of North Cornwall and the leafy suburbs of London, Flight is a story of secrets and lies – and of the indelible traces that are left behind when someone tries to disappear.
When Wren Irving’s numbers come up in the first ever national lottery draw, she doesn’t tell her husband, Rob. Instead she quietly packs her bags, kisses her six-month-old daughter Phoebe goodbye, and leaves. Two decades later, Rob has moved on and found happiness with their oldest friend, Laura. Phoebe, now a young woman, has never known any other life. But when Rob receives a mysterious letter, the past comes back to haunt them all. With their cosy world thrown into turmoil, Laura sets out to track Wren down and discover the truth about why she walked out all those years ago.
‘A compulsive read … Flight has great clarity and meaning’
– NewBooks magazine
‘Brilliantly told … exemplifies contemporary fiction that explores the dynamics and complexities of family life’
– We Love This Book
‘Beautifully written and brimming with emotional honesty, this is the most engaging and enjoyable novel I’ve read this year’
– Sussex Life magazine
It’s the start of one of the hottest summers on record with soaring temperatures and weeks without rain; the summer of Abba, T-Rex, David Bowie and Demis Roussos; of Martinis, cheesecake and chicken chasseur; of the Montreal Olympics and the Notting Hill riots – the summer Big Ben stopped dead …
17-year-old Luke is all set to enjoy his last months at home on the Isle of Wight before leaving for college. But when the close-knit community is gripped by scandal, everything he thought he knew about friendship and family is turned on its head.
‘Isabel Ashdown is adept at portraying the bickering normalcy of ordinary family life … [she] effortlessly transports you back to the seventies – a world of Abba, flares, punk and David Bowie’
– The Press Association
‘Evocative of that hot, dry summer … book groups will have a lot to discuss’
– NewBooks Magazine
‘Ashdown handles big themes and period details with heart’
– The Simple Things magazine