TOBIAS HILL

London in the aftermath of war: children run wild on East End bombsites, while their elders strive for better lives in a country beggared by victory. Clarence and Bernadette Malcolm have come five thousand miles in search of prosperity, but find the Mother Country not at all as has been promised them; Solly and Dora Lazarus, too, are strangers in a strange land, struggling to belong even as they try to make sense of their past; and Michael and Mary Lockhart take with both hands all that the world owes them, wherever it leads them, whatever the cost. In the street markets and tenements of Bethnal Green the three families live and work together in uneasy harmony, until Michael shatters the balance between them, his hunger for betterment changing the courses of all their lives over decades and generations. Reaching across forty years and capturing a city and a people in a time of tumultuous change, What Was Promised is a breathtaking novel by a master storyteller.

In Sparta, southern Greece, a close-knit group search for the buried traces of a formidable ancient power. A latecomer, Ben Mercer finds himself drawn to their brilliance and charisma: to the double-edged friendship of his countryman Jason, the unsettling beauty of the women, Natsuko and Eleschen, and the menace of Max and Eberhard, who idealise the extremes of the ancient Spartans. Thrilled by the possibility of acceptance and excited by the dangerous games they play, Ben gradually wins his way into the circle. But there is more to the group than he understands, and Ben finds out too late that some things should remain hidden. He must decide where his loyalties lie - before the decision is taken for him. Written with astonishing grace and power, "The Hidden" is a novel about the secrets we keep, the ties that bind us and the true cost of fulfilling our desires.

Anna Moore, 36 ans, vit seule à Londres, capitale de l''argent. Inspectrice des Impôts de Sa Majesté, elle a reçu mission d''enquêter sur les comptes de John Law, l''inventeur de la monnaie électroni

A fripping, critically acclaimed story of secrets and extremes, and how the past is always closer than you think. In Sparta, a close-knit group are excaving an ancient site. When Ben, lost and aimless, comes to Greece to escape private failures, he is inevitably drawn to them- but is there more to the group than he understands? A veritable page-turner from the acclaimed author of The Cryptographer and THe Love of Stones.

John Law is a man full of secrets. People call him the Cryptographer, or the Codemaker. He is mysterious and charming, the world''s first quadrillionaire, the inventor of an unbreakable code, of a new form of electronic money. As a man, he is admired and distrusted more than most. Tax inspector Anna Moore''s talent is for getting clients to talk. She is good at what she does, one of the best. So when the Revenue assigns John Law as Anna''s new client, her first task is to discover just what it is he''s trying to hide... ''''A supremely elegant and ambiguous thriller.'' Sunday Times; ''A remarkable poetic imagination.'' Independent on Sunday''