Plot summary

Sam Richardson returns to the small Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

n town of Wigton

Wigton

Wigton is a small market town and civil parish outside the Lake District, in the administrative county of Cumbria in England, and traditionally in Cumberland. It is the bustling and thriving centre of the Solway Plain, situated between the Caldbeck Fells and the Solway coast...

 after fighting in Burma during the Second World War. The war has given Sam’s wife Ellen a newfound confidence and Sam is a stranger to his son Joe. Sam is plagued by memories of the war and wants a new life, for himself, his wife and his son.

The book won the WH Smith Literary Award

WH Smith Literary Award

The WH Smith Literary Award was an award founded in 1959 by British high street retailer W H Smith. Its founding aim was stated to be to "encourage and bring international esteem to authors of the British Commonwealth"; originally open to all residents of the UK, the Commonwealth and the Republic...

in 2000, and was followed by three sequels.

A Son of War (2001)

Sam Richardson is still struggling with effects of World War Two and to re-establish his relationship with his wife Ellen and young son Joe. Sam wants to become his own boss and start a business.

Crossing the Lines (2003)

Joe Richardson is changing from an immature schoolboy into a confident student at Oxford who has the world at his feet. His parents Sam and Ellen have reconciled some of their difficulties and are drifting into middle-age.