For Fidgie, living in pre-war Wales, the long school holiday stretched blissfully ahead. With her new friend Chaz as companion for idyllic summer days by the sea, she was able frequently to escape her edgy mother and her malicious older sister, Cly. Her father, mercifully, was away from home ...

Through Fidgie''s clear eyes the events of a brief hot spell in August unfold: her family and neighbours become involved in adultery, deception, and other, darker, misdemeanours. The eight-year-old child is an engaging and lively narrator; swept along by her extraordinarily compelling tale, the reader will realise that underlying Fidgie''s innocent accounts of family meals, fishing trips round the bay, tree-climbing and playing at May Queens, a very adult sub-text is developing. Its conclusion is both tragic and inevitable.

Anthea Halliwell''s novel marks the emergence of a delightfully individual voice and a most original storytelling talent.