This has been a pretty good holiday read. The book has a decent plot and an unusual setting (the mesolithic era). I do have to admit to being a little disappointed that it is more about people and less about their surroundings than I had hoped for. Margaret Elphinstone has a real but in this book under-used talent for descriptive writing, which is a pity when she has been clever enough to pick such a potentially fascinating setting for her story. But perhaps that's because I'm a bloke?The Gathering Night