From a Distance : A Novel

In April 1946 Michael returns from war and finds he cannot face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he leaps on a train to the western tip of Cornwall, and in doing so changes his destiny. He finds himself in a bohemian colony of artists gathered on the Cornish coast, and his fate is shaped by his heart, his new environment, and the fragmented Britain to which he has returned.

More than fifty years later, a man arrives in Norfolk to claim-reluctantly-his inheritance: an abandoned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past, now ready to cast its beam forward. Kit, a successful businessman, is fairly certain he wants no part in this legacy.

In a farmhouse, a woman falters in the middle of her life. Louisa's children are leaving home and the constant push and pull of family life has turned like the tide of the Norfolk sea-she is suspended, without direction. When Kit and Louisa meet, neither can escape the consequences of Michael's split-second decision all those years ago.

Moving between the postwar artists' colony in Cornwall and present-day Norfolk, Raffaella Barker's new novel explores the secrets and flaws that can shape generations. From a Distance is a nuanced and compelling story of human connection and our desire to belong.

“Barker artfully brings the three stands of her narrative together, teasing the reader with suppressed passions, and bringing the story to a clever and reassuring conclusion.” —Independent on Sunday

“[A] dreamy, poetic novel, full of references to Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse . . . A beautifully written, superior romance perfect for a hammock on a sunny day.” —Daily Mail

“[A] feel-good story . . . refreshingly upbeat.” —Publishers Weekly

“[A] breezy and entertaining novel, which should appeal to the Joanna Trollope crowd.” —Library Journal

“Poetic . . . As Barker deftly draws her two narratives together, she illustrates how the war years affected the lives of both soldiers and civilians for decades to come, and how decisions made in one generation have the power to shape those of the future.” —New York Times Book Review