Bitter Orange

by Claire Fuller, Fig Tree, £9.99 Review by Lucy Whetman

Lonely singleton Frances and glamorous couple Peter and Cara are thrown together at an abandoned country estate in Hampshire, where Peter is to survey the mansion’s architectural features and Frances those of the gardens for its absent American owner.

In the bewitching atmosphere of Lyntons, little work ever gets done, however, as the unlikely trio picnic amongst the ruins of the building, drain a forgotten wine cellar and then rifle through the house’s hidden treasures.

It is clear from the outset that something terrible will happen and Claire Fuller’s third novel is full of dark foreboding, though the exact events are deftly concealed until the ending.

Like her character Cara, the author is a dazzling storyteller, and the otherworldly charm of the setting is alluringly evoked, but in this tale trouble lies not far below the sheen of a golden exterior.

A beautiful read that brings you into the surroundings.