THE PROMISE OF HAPPINESS

THE RICHARD & JUDY BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE 2005

Charles Judd wanders across a wild Cornish beach, contemplating the turns his life has taken. At home, his wife Daphne struggles hopelessly with the latest fish recipe. Two of their children are keeping it all together – just. The third, the prodigal daughter Juliet, is being released from prison in New York after a sentence for art theft. This is the day, on the face of it so ordinary, on which Justin Cartwright's explosive novel opens, as all five members of the family try to come to terms with the return of Juliet, and their deepest thoughts and darkest secrets are laid bare.

‘A compelling and candid portrait of a family in crisis’
MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘Extraordinarily bold . . . This is a funny, angry, moving novel’
INDEPENDENT

‘Impressive . . . an intelligent, generous and unsentimental take on an English middle-class family’
DAILY TELEGRAPH

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THE SONG BEFORE IT IS SUNG

On 20 July 1944, Adolf Hitler narrowly escaped an assassin's bomb. Axel von Gottberg and his conspirators were hunted down and hanged from meat-hooks, and the executions filmed. Sixty years later, Conrad Senior is left a legacy of letters by von Gottberg's close friend, the legendary Oxford professor Elya Mendel, and becomes obsessed with what they reveal and finding the brutal film. Award-winning writer Justin Cartwright has conjured a masterwork that addresses the nature of friendship and what it means to be human, and it is a remarkable tapestry of passion, ideas, frailty and courage.

‘A richly detailed evocation of one of the darkest periods in modern history, and an eloquent exploration of human fallibility and guilt’
THE TIMES

‘Heart-stopping . . . utterly accomplished’
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘A profound exploration of guilt, friendship, voyeurism and morality. A cracker’
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

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THIS SECRET GARDEN

OXFORD REVISITED

Oxford is many things. But it has a symbolic meaning which reaches well beyond its buildings, gardens, rituals and teaching. It stands for something deep in the Anglo-Saxon mind: excellence, a kind of privilege, open-mindedness, respect for tradition.

Cartwright has spoken to many leading figures, looked at favourite places in Oxford, subjected himself to an English tutorial – he performed very poorly – attended the freshers' dinner in his old college, studied various works of art, libraries and museums, investigated the claim that dons like detective novels, and reread many Oxford classics. At the same time he has looked at some of the great debates and reforms which made Oxford what it is, as well as the most recent debate about funding reform, which ended in a resounding defeat for the reformers.

He finds that the Oxford myth, while it is at odds with reality, is as powerful as ever. This is an enchanting and intelligent look at Oxford, indispensable reading for anyone interested in the myth and reality of this famed city.