In the fold - Rachel Cusk

A story of deception, belonging and a marriage in crisis from one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.The Hanburys of Egypt Hill are the last word in bohemian living
or so they like to think. Their parties are famous, their relationships confusing, their bravado immense. Michael, a young student who first encounters the family at a party for Caris Hanburys eighteenth birthday party, is irrestibly attracted to their enfolding exuberance.As an adult, Michael finds and marries into his own version of The Hanburys: The Alexanders are immoral, artistic and wealthy. After the birth of their first son, his wife Rebecca finds herself struggling with questions of identity and self-expression while Michael wonders why his life has become so destructive and tumultuous.When Michael is invited to spend a week with the Hanburys his illusions are startlingly shattered, as the rotten core of the Hanbury myth is gradually revealed.In the Fold is a story of modern manners and past offences, of public morality and private property; and of how human beings can become undone by their yearning to belong.