Brother

Bright, stylish Katherine is offered a place to study philosophy by Jacob Goldman. She little expects to find herself in the Goldmans' home, a rambling house in Sussex, while Jacob's untidy but enchanting wife Jane gives birth to their sixth child, little Rosie does headstands, stroppy Jonathan goes off fishing and Roger wins her heart by playing beautiful music on his violin. Katherine and Roger embark on a love affair that ends in tears and she leaves for Rome.

Alison has two failed marriages under her belt, a house full of junk and an assortment of 'bohemian' friends. When she meets Noah ,she finds a serenity never thought possible: until Noah goes away to a conference and things start to go wrong.

Lydia is killed in a car accident, but she returns to her bereft sister as a benign ghost who nonetheless comes to haunt the lives of those around her in unexpected ways: Jonathan Goldman, whose flat Lydia is running from when she is knocked down; his daughter, Stella, who has discovered her father has been having an affair with the gladiatorial Sonia; Stella's genius painter-boy lover, Izzy, whom she leaves behind as she flees to the arms of kindly Peregrine. Along with good stepmothers, bad mothers, strange professors and wicked monks, their lives collide in a breathtaking finale.