The Comfort of Others

By: Kay Langdale

Narrated by: Joan Walker

Minnie and her sister, Clara, spinsters both, live in a dilapidated country house in the middle of a housing estate, built when their father sold off the family's land. Now in their 70s, their days follow a well-established routine: long gone are the garden parties, the tennis lessons and their suffocating strict mother. Gone, too, is any mention of what happened when Minnie was 16 and the secret the family buried in the grounds of their estate.

Directly opposite them lives Max, an 11-year-old whose life with his mum has changed beyond recognition since her new boyfriend arrived. Cast aside, he takes solace in Minnie's careful routine, observed through his bedroom window. Over the course of the summer, both begin to tell their stories: Max through a Dictaphone, Minnie through a diary. As their tales intertwine, ghosts are put to rest and challenges faced in a story that is as dark as it is uplifting.

©2016 Kay Langdale (P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton

Critic reviews

''A beautiful and insightful writer...I loved this book.'' (New Books Mag)
''A wonderful writer.'' (Daily Mail on Away From You)
''Langdale's psychological intelligence informs every angle.'' (The Times on Away From You)
''In this double portrait each voice comes from a combination of speech, thought and writing for a tale of cruelty and redemption both moving and deeply satisfying.'' (Oxford Times)
''Warmth and affection seep into the reader's hands.'' (The Irish Times)