First published 2012
Thomas Squire commands television screens across England, drawing audiences to his documentary programs with practiced charm. His confidence radiates through every room he enters, but cracks appear when he attends an arts symposium in Sicily. The gathering forces him to confront questions he has avoided for years. His marriage strains under the weight of his affairs. His children watch their father with growing distance. His grand English estate, inherited from generations past, no longer feels like sanctuary. Squire's history as a secret operative in Yugoslavia haunts him, pulling him back to a divided land caught between opposing worlds. The symposium becomes a stage where his public persona battles his private turmoil. His relationships unravel as he moves between England, Sicily, Singapore, and Yugoslavia, each location revealing another fracture in his carefully constructed life. The man who once navigated international intrigue now struggles to manage his own domestic chaos. Squire must decide whether to rebuild what he has damaged or let his world collapse entirely.
Genres: fiction, drama, literary-fiction, 20th-century, thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Sicily, Singapore, Yugoslavia
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
340 pages · Kindle Edition · The Friday Project