A brilliant, shocking story of domestic violence, with a twist.

The gripping story of Luke, an easy-going deep-sea diver who likes to please everyone, and the strong-willed, beautiful Charlotte with whom he falls in love. On their wedding night she picks a fight with Luke in their hotel room and he ends up with a black eye that lasts well into their honeymoon.

The novel unfolds with flashbacks to that night, when Luke finds himself questioning whether he's just ruined his life, and forwards again to their honeymoon, where Charlotte's moods veer wildly from loving to livid. When this novel was first published, Carmel Bird described it as 'The chilling calibration of a violent marriage told with wistful compassion and an erotic charge.'