The Fens: Discovering England's Ancient DepthsThe Fens are a distinctive, complex, man made and little understood landscape. Francis Pryor has lived in, excavated, farmed, walked and loved the Fen Country for more than forty years: its levels and drains, its soaring churches, its magnificent medieval buildings. In The Fens, he counterpoints the history of the Fen landscape and its transformation the great drainage projects that created the Old and New Bedford Rivers, the Ouse Washes and Bedford

not that this sleepy backwater is taking much notice

and faced with the oppressive enthusiasms of his children

their shade cool on even the hottest day

Detective Carson Ryder is good at this sort of thing crazies and freaks

stressed and needs to get home to check up on his little brother who he's single-handedly bringing up

nicknamed Papillon

she grasps the horror of what she has done

These two men are destined to collide

a 15 year old girl who finds herself working in an old people's home in Leicestershire in the 1970s

He attempts to behave beautifully and sensibly

And when he arrives at Lansbury Hall

Anna must find answers and weather a storm that rivals the hurricanes for which the islands are famous