' A masterpiece ' Anita Brookner ' A very beautiful novel ' Nick Hornby ' Includes some of the most perfect sentences in English ' Guardian At the turn of the twentieth century, two children play on an English beach. Eustace, a gentle, dreamy, boy with a weak heart, relies on his older sister Hilda. As young adults, Eustace and Hilda are unexpectedly invited to stay at the grand country house of the wealthy Staveley family. The weekend's events will haunt the siblings' lives as their story travels from Oxford colleges to Venetian palazzi. The magnum opus from the author of The Go-Between , this is an enchanting, tender exploration of two siblings who cannot live together or apart. With an introduction by Anita Brookner.