A COMPELLING tale of family relationships, intrigue and ordinary folk -- all set in and around the Bolton area.

That's the latest novel from best-selling writer Ruth Hamlton, whose heart remains firmly in Bolton although she now lives on Merseyside.

Matthew's beloved wife Molly finally succumbs to cancer, leaving a grieving famiily and a complicated domestic life.

Tilly Povey has watched the disintegration of the family with a heavy heart. But now she can help rescue each one, with her sound Northern sense and decent values. Ruth Hamilton's novels are wonderfully familiar yet completely new each time, moving around the town centre and into the districts with a story set in a time not long since.

She holds the attention and the interest throughout, with fleshed out characters we really care about. And a plot that moves through all the gamut of ordinary emotion, and plenty of extraordinary ones as well. A very satisfying read.