A freak tidal surge hitting a Welsh seaside town leaves devastation and three locals drowned. Yet when a fourth body is found in the debris it takes time for it to be identified as the respected Oxford writer Sara Meredith. A celebrity, an icon to an entire generation - what was she doing in such an unlikely place? And how had it ended in her death?These mysteries overwhelm the lives of people Sara has left behind: estranged husband Josh, their volatile...

At once the disturbing, ultimately consoling story of one family's loss and a searing portrait of life at the dawn of the 21st century, 'Unless' is a daring novel from the master of extraordinary fictions about so-called 'ordinary' lives.

June, 1933: the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered...