This is the imagined story of the artist Stanley Spencer when he was living in Cookham working on the mural in the chapel there. It is told from the perspective of his housekeeper, Elsie.

The First World War is over and, in a quiet Hampshire village, artist Stanley Spencer is working on the commission of a lifetime, painting an entire chapel in memory of a life lost in the first world war. 

When Elsie Munday arrives to take up her position as housemaid to the Spencer family, her life becomes entwined with Stanley, his wife Hilda and their young daughter Shirin.

As the years pass, Elsie does her best to keep the family together even when love, obsession and temptation seem set to tear them apart.

It's an extraordinary, haunting, poignant and moving book. As with all Nicola Upson's writing it has a powerful sense of place and of time. The story is told simply and gently, yet has an incredible impact. Brilliant!