The Young Accomplice

''Britain''s answer to Donna Tartt'' Sunday Times

''A huge talent'' Hilary Mantel

''Was this how it was going to be for ever? Wrapping things for customers in womenswear, no conversation. Polishing the counters so her face reflected in the brass and sweeping floors at closing time until the boss said she could leave. How much worse off would she be if she went driving with a stranger for a while?''

When sixteen-year-old Joyce Savigear absconds from work to go out with a man she barely knows, she hopes a new, exciting life is just beginning.

But, two years later, she is waiting on a railway station in the tranquil English countryside. It''s the summer of 1952 and she and her younger brother Charlie have just been released from borstal. Another fresh start awaits - but can Joyce ever outrun the darkness of her past?

''What a writer'' Richard Osman

''An involving tale of revenge and responsibility, which, while it devastates, also tells us that new lives can be built among the ashes'' FT

''The Young Accomplice shows the difference between a book that slides down the surface of things, and one that digs its claws into you and sticks there'' The Times