Promise

Written by Lucy Diamond, this novel opens with the sudden death of Patrick Sheppard, which leaves his family struggling to function. His partner Zoe is grieving the loss of her great love, while his sons Ethan and Gabe and his daughter Beatrice are missing the outsized father who once filled their home. Nobody can picture a way forward from the emptiness he has left behind.

Patrick's brother Dan takes on the task of helping the Sheppards rebuild some sense of happiness. Determined to honour Patrick by living up to the man he was, Dan throws himself into the daily chores of family life, from the school run and the kitchen to the household bills. As he does, he starts to realise that he may not have understood his brother at all, and that Patrick was hiding things from everyone.

Dan must now balance his grieving relatives against a painful truth that could shatter them all again. He is forced to confront what he has avoided facing about the night Patrick died.