The day Nina’s father dies she discovers a tattered old music manuscript written in his hand and locked away in a desk. Her father was no musical genius, so what could have compelled him to write out an entire symphony and then keep it hidden? The answer lies buried in a web of deceit and scandal that has lain dormant for decades, and now Nina is determined to find out the truth.

Digging into her family’s past Nina is forced to remember her own traumatic childhood, when her father’s chronic and emotionally destructive hypochondria brought their family to near crumbling point. Nina’s sole refuge had been the home of her best friend whose parents were professional ballroom dancers, and here she had found relief in the glittering world of Argentinean tango.

In her thirties, Nina’s life is already complicated – the recession is tightening its grip on London, her American admirer seems doomed never to make it across the Atlantic and the prospect of a relationship with a Finnish tango enthusiast is becoming enormously appealing – and as the symphony forces her to confront difficult questions about her family, she soon begins to wish she had never unlocked that desk.

Witty and perceptive with a poignant insight into the human psyche, Dancing with Dr Kildare traces the journey of a woman delving into the past in order to discover her future.

Praise for Dancing with Dr. Kildare:

‘Intense and richly evocative… a notably good-humoured and rollicking read’
The Guardian