'The stories in this elegant book often pinpoint the places where morality and snobbery meet. ... Her writing is superbly assured, with a crystalline clarity and understated humour.' The Times Read more praise for The Blue ...

In the distance, under a spreading tree, her elder children were debating with others. Usually they only saw her in the kitchen.

They spotted her just as she was leaving the campus and heading on down towards the wide white sand.

'Mum,' they called, astonished. 'Mum! Mu-uM! Where are you going?'

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