From a Distance

April, 1946. Michael, a soldier, returns to Southampton on a troop ship. Brutalised and in shock, he cannot face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he boards a train to the western tip of Cornwall, where his life is shaped by his heart and the fragmented Britain he has come back to. More than half a century later, Kit, an enigmatic stranger, arrives in Norfolk to take up his unwanted inheritance -- a decommissioned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past, now sweeping its beam forward through time. According to Kit, his life is complete, and he doesn't wish to see anything the lighthouse's glare exposes. But the choice is out of his hands. Luisa, a second-generation Italian, has so far lived through her children and has reached a point of invisibility. The constant push and pull of family life has turned like the tide, and she is suspended, without direction. Kit and Luisa meet and neither can escape the inevitability of Michael's split-second decision at the Southampton docks. Moving between the post-war artists' colony around St Ives in Cornwall and present-day Norfolk, Raffaella Barker's new novel explores the secrets and flaws that shape our interactions across generations. From a Distance is a tender and compelling story of human connection and the yearning desire we have to belong In April 1946 Michael returns from war and finds he cannot face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he leaps on a train to the western tip of Cornwall, and in doing so changes his destiny. He finds himself in a bohemian colony of artists gathered on the Cornish coast, and his fate is shaped by his heart, his new environment, and the fragmented Britain to which he has returned. More than fifty years later, a man arrives in Norfolk to claim--reluctantly--his inheritance: an abandoned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past, now ready to cast its beam forward. Kit, a successful businessman, is fairly certain he wants no part in this legacy. In a farmhouse, a woman falters in the middle of her life. Louisa's children are leaving home and the constant push and pull of family life has turned like the tide of the Norfolk sea--she is suspended, without direction. When Kit and Louisa meet, neither can escape the consequences of Michael's split-second decision all those years ago. Moving between the postwar artists' colony in Cornwall and present-day Norfolk, Raffaella Barker's new novel explores the secrets and flaws that can shape generations. 'From a Distance' is a nuanced and compelling story of human connection and our desire to belong One of Britain's favourite chroniclers of life and the rural dream returns with a compelling story of a family divided by war 'Wonderful writer ... Incredible books' David Baldacci, New York Times ' She writes beautifully ... Combining, with apparent ease, emotion and admirable precision' Independent on Sunday Bruised and brutalised by war, Michael returns to England on a troop ship, unable to face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he boards a train heading to the western tip of Cornwall. In doing so he changes his destiny. More than fifty years later, Kit, a charming stranger, arrives in a coastal Norfolk village to take up his inheritance – a decommissioned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past. Meanwhile Luisa falters in the flow of her life as her children begin to fly the nest and she is left suspended, without direction. When Kit and Luisa meet, neither can escape the consequences of Michael's split-second decision made all those decades ago.