'Triumphant, and beautifully told...one of the best novelists writing today' GuardianAll must gamble with their fate. But not all can win...In the city of Bath, in the year 1865 Jane Adeane, renowned for her restorative skills, is convinced that some other destiny will one day show itself to her. But when she finds herself torn between a dangerous affair with a female lover and the promise of a conventional marriage to an apparently respectable doctor, her desires begin to lead her towards a future she had never imagined...________________Praise for ISLANDS OF MERCY:'So emotionally sophisticated, so deft with shade and light' Sunday Times'One of our most accomplished novelists' Observer'One of my favourite writers' Nina Stibbe