Disquiet

Julia Leigh

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2013
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571311026
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Fleeing a violent marriage, Olivia returns to her childhood home with her two young children and a broken arm. The house is imposing, surrounded by high walls and yew trees clipped into fantastical shapes, and her mother's rules create an atmosphere of brittle control. By coincidence, another couple are expected at the house at the same time: Olivia's brother Marcus and his wife Sophie are coming back from the hospital with their newborn. But Marcus and Sophie also bring along with them a tragic secret, a secret that will push the whole family towards breaking point...

'Julia Leigh is one of the greatest living writers.' Simon Schama, Guardian Books of the Year

'I loved it . . . A modern gothic classic.' Sarah Hall

Table of contents

• Cover
• Landing Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Epigraph
• They stood before the great gateway…
• Once inside they dragged their suitcases…
• Ida showed them upstairs…
• Not long after Ida was preparing food…
• A little later the children were playing…
• At morning tea-time Ida accompanied the woman…
• In the entrance hall Grandmother was supervising the twins…
• After lunch it was arranged that the woman would be driven to the village…
• At twilight the car pulled around…
• The children’s room was a pigsty…
• In the hallway they stopped before an arrangement of flowers…
• Up the stairs, along the hallway, turning right,
• In the morning the boy’s bed was empty.
• In the breakfast salon a vine had been allowed to creep up the wall…
• Later that morning they were all assembled in the summer pavilion…
• ‘Never. Never in my day.’
• After lunch Grandmother asked the woman to take her for a stroll.
• In the late afternoon the children were playing in the boathouse.
• The next morning the house was abuzz…
• In the drawing room the splendid buffet was untouched.
• The girl had wandered into the garden…
• On her return to the house the girl ran into her brother…
• When Marcus awoke the light was pinkening…
• Later that evening the woman and the children were sitting with Grandmother…
• During the night the girl started screaming.
• Ida wheeled Grandmother out…
• Another day a light rain dimpled the lake.
• Days later an elaborate piece of garden furniture…
• The following morning Marcus took a load of his dirty shirts down to the laundry.
• This time it was Josette who lowered herself onto the rattan throne on the lawn…
• One afternoon Marcus and the woman sat side by side…
• At night the boy readied his escape.
• The next morning Sophie was up early…
• That night the woman put the children to bed.
• At first light the sky turned a deep orange…
• Once more they encircled the open grave.
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright