Secrets We Hide From Ourselves

Simon Turner is arranging his own birthday party to celebrate a special coming of age. His planning is careful and diligent, aiming to assure the right venue, with endless music and dancing, reunion and reminiscence. It's all down to him: he's been a widower for nearly 30 years; family and friends are geographically distant.

Simon believes that the presence of his closest friends, three men he has known for forty years, will make the party an unqualified success. When they accept his invitations, he is delighted, especially since he feels his family has no interest in joining him. That changes when terrible things affect his family. It shifts Simon's focus. He decides that the party must celebrate his other enduring relationships; his aged father; his sisters; his niece and nephews.

The party is wonderful, and a huge success. There is live music, good food, plenty to drink and many moments of recollection and reflection. Simon, a gifted musician himself, performs a well-loved song and it stuns his guests, turning the event into something even more special. All his hard work has paid off. There is love all around.

Except that Simon never imagined for one moment that, as the evening's melodies and harmonies are at their most loving and perfect, there would be extraordinary revelations; least of all by him.

Set in 2019, Secrets We Hide From Ourselves takes place in Great Britain, with scenes at York and Cheltenham.