The Wonder House [Paperback]

"'A heartbreaking book... the love story seems to mirror the complicated political struggle surrounding it and the ending is so painful, like Romeo and Juliet... A huge achievement.' Joanna Lumley 'A rare book - subtle, sensitive, sensual' Achmat Dangor 'Hardy's evident intimacy with and affection for the troubled landscape and people of her novel lend The Wonder House an air of distinction' The Times 'Brilliant... each of the characters is wonderfully crafted' Easy Living"

‘Brilliant… wonderfully crafted’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Three women live on The Wonder House, a boat moored on Nagin Lake, and carved from the great cedars that watch over the Kashmir Valley. Suriya is mute, and carries a terrible secret. Her daughter, Lila, wants to escape the past, and live a different kind of life. But together, they tend to Gracie, a defiant Yorkshirewoman living out her widowhood by the lake. A military coup over the border brings violence crashing back into the Valley. When an English journalist arrives to report on the conflict, Gracie invites him to stay on The Wonder House. But, Hal is a man adrift, and his love for one of the women threatens more than just the fragile peace on the houseboat.

JUSTINE HARDY's first book, The Ochre Border was about the reopening of the Tibetan frontierlands. Her second, Scoop-wallah: Life on a Delhi Daily was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Award. The Wonder House is her first novel.