The Camomile Lawn

Escape to the Cornish cliffs in the dizzying heat of August 1939, where five cousins are making the most of the last summer of their youth.

‘Instantly seductive…wise and funny....supremely entertaining’ Guardian

Oliver is just back from the Spanish Civil War and world-weary at only nineteen. Calypso is gorgeous, selfish and determined to marry for money. Polly and Walter, brother and sister, play their cards close to their chests. Then there's little Sophie, who nobody loves.

Soon the world will be swept once more into war and the cousins will enter a whirlwind of sex, fear, survival and loss. But, for now, they have one last sun-drenched summer on the house by the cliffs with the camomile lawn.

A beloved bestseller from an author ahead of her time, The Camomile Lawn is a moving, witty, devil-may-care delight.

‘Provides equal doses of sex and repression in war-torn Britain with panache and pace’ The Times

‘A very good book indeed...rich in detail, careful and subtle in observation, mature in judgement’ Susan Hill