A novel about infatuation, class, and obligation, The River Within
will take its place as a classic in a tradition of English fiction that
takes in Thomas Hardy, Graham Swift, and Helen Dunmore.
It is the summer of 1955. The body of Danny Masters is found by three of
his friends in the river that runs through Starome, a village on the
Richmond estate in North Yorkshire.
Alexander, one of the three friends that found Danny and the sole heir
to Richmond Hall, has always been unpredictable but lately he has grown
elusive, his behaviour becoming increasingly erratic. His mother, Lady
Venetia Richmond, is newly widowed and too busy trying to keep the
sprawling family estate together to worry about Alexander, though she
could use his help.
A second friend, Lennie Fairweather, "child of nature" and daughter of
the late Sir Angus Richmond's private secretary, has other things on her
mind too. In love with Alexander, she longs to escape life with her
over-protective father and domineering brother, Tom, who was also there
when Danny's body was discovered.
In the weeks that follow the tragic drowning, the river begins to give
up its secrets. As the circumstances surrounding Danny's death emerge,
other stories surface that threaten to disrupt everybody's plans and to
destroy an entire way of life.
