Gripping and rich with emotional insight and intelligence, Patrick Gale's 'Cornish novel', Rough Music is a beautiful portrait of a marriage.

Truly compelling and rich with emotional insight, Patrick Gale's Cornish novel, Rough Music is a beautiful story of a marriage and the secrets a family holds.

Julian is a contented if naive only child, and a holiday on the coast of North Cornwall should be perfect, especially when distant American cousins join the party. But their arrival brings upheaval and unexpected turmoil.

It is only as a seemingly well-adjusted adult that Julian is able to reflect on the realities of his parents' marriage, and to recognise that the happy, cheerful boyhood he thought was his is infused with secrets, loss and the memory of betrayals that have shaped his life.

'Sparkling with emotional intelligence. A gripping portrait of a marriage and the quiet, devastating fall-out of family life' Independent