xe2x80x98SUFFUSED WITH JOYxe2x80x99 Guardian, xe2x80x98PROPHETICxe2x80x99 Daily Mail, xe2x80x98BEAUTIFULxe2x80x99 Scotsman, xe2x80x98IMMERSIVExe2x80x99 IMAGE

Perched on a hill above a village by the sea, the high house has a mill, a vegetable garden and a barn full of supplies.

Caro and her younger half-brother, Pauly, arrive there one day to find it cared for by Grandy and his granddaughter, Sally. Not quite a family, they learn to live together, and care for one another.

But there are limits even to what the ailing Grandy knows about how to survive, and, if the storm comes, it might not be enough.

xe2x80x98Deeply moving xe2x80xa6 so grounded in reality and the ordinariness of the lives of this disparate group, that I had to read parts of it through my fingersxe2x80x99 Good Housekeeping Books of the Year