Bestselling author Helen Dunmore tells a compelling story of forbidden desires, family secrets and two siblings caught in the middle in her heartbreaking historical novel "A Spell of Winter". Catherine and her brother, Rob, don't know why they have been abandoned by their parents. Incarcerated in the enormous country house of their grandfather - 'the man from nowhere' - they create a refuge against their family's dark secrets, and against the outside world as it moves towards the First World War. As time passes, their sibling love deepens and crosses into forbidden territory. But they are not as alone in the house as they believe..."A marvellous novel about forbidden passions and the terrible consequences of thwarted love. Dunmore is one of the finest English writers". ("Daily Mail"). "A hugely involving story which often stops you in your tracks with the beauty of its writing". ("Observer"). "An electrifying and original talent, a writer whose style is characterized by a lyrical, dreamy intensity". ("Guardian"). Novelist and poet Helen Dunmore has achieved great critical acclaim since publishing her first adult novel, the McKitterick Prize winning, "Zennor in Darkness". Her novels, "Counting the Stars", "Your Blue-Eyed Boy", "With Your Crooked Heart", "Burning Bright", "The Siege" (Shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002), "The Betrayal," "House of Orphans", "Mourning Ruby" and "Talking to the Dead", and her collection of short stories "Love of Fat Men" are all published by Penguin. Helen also writes for children, her titles include "The Deep" and "Ingo".