The silence in the garden - William Trevor

Carriglas is the island estate off County Cork where Sarah Pollexfen goes to live as governess to her wealthy cousins on the eve of the First World War. Helplessly, Sarah watches her cousins lead increasingly isolated and empty lives as if punishing themselves for a past crime. And somewhere in the tranquil garden of Carriglas there are secrets waiting to be discovered .

'The Silence in the Garden' won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year award. Writing in the Spectator, Anita Brookner said, 'Trevor is a specialist in brooding regret and a discoverer of past crimes. He is devoted to Ireland, to its soft speech and its frequently ugly deeds, and he combines them in a sort of elegy'.