Easy Silence

William and Grace share what seems to them an ideal marriage. William enjoys a successful career in a relatively famous string quartet, and Grace is a children's book illustrator. Both in their 50s, neither have any reason to believe that their relationship could be threatened. But when Andrew, the quartet's viola player, retires with arthritis, he is replaced by the beautiful Bonnie, and the remaining male trio find the internal relations of the quartet have changed dramatically. Soon William can't think of anyone or anything else, and begins to work out stratagems for inviting Bonnie to lunch or to prevent her from spending too much time with Grant, the cello player, who is his main rival for her attention. It is not long before William has even begun to think the unthinkable: that his faithful, loving wife Grace Has Got To Go... Angela Huth has been compared to Jane Austen and Mrs Gaskell, and her novels gleam with beautiful observations and utterly convincing characters. In this, her ninth novel, she is at her superlative best, casting a wise and witty eye on mid-life crises and modern marriage.