Once On A Road

Winner of the Society of Women Writers Biennial Book Award 2011

How far would you go to protect your grandchildren from their mother? Naomi Adams is a midwife, a mother and a grandmother. Her two young grandsons, Chris and Max, have been the centre of her world since both her sons were killed in a car accident. Her daughter-in-law, Zoe, was said to have been driving on that devastating afternoon. Zoe is badly injured in the crash and once she recovers, still ruined, she walks away from her boys and from Naomi for eight years. But now she wants her sons back. And Naomi can't let them go.

Exploring the age-old themes of duty and love, exile and return, this is the story of Naomi and Zoë. It is also the story of Chris and Max, who adore their grandmother but long for their mother, whether or not she knows what's best for them. The choice they make has grave repercussions for the whole family, which will reverberate for years to come.

Beautifully told in spare, vivid prose Once on a Road is a superb first novel about the complexity of families and how, eventually, even the most tangled and unhappy relationships can be redeemed by forgiveness and love.