A debut novel of love, loss, haunting absences and dispossession, told with artistry and elegance.

The Tower is where Nan found the old miller hanging from the rafters on the eve of the second war like one of his old floury smocks. Jack Cucu, back from Burma with more than the fever in his brain, believed he was the sentinel of the tower until he died. Jack’s son, together with his sweetheart scared themselves silly there in the days before the place, and his place, in her heart went cold. And now the tower’s getting tarted up for Derrick Dallas by Bachie and his mates from the cowboy construction outfit on their days off from dropping mushies down The George.

A derelict tower is brought alive through the stories of those who have spent their lives in its presence; it is coloured by clan and community, bound by lines of blood and tales that cut across generational divides.

‘Pastoral, flinty and fierce’ – Independent

‘Hughes is a very good writer, if ‘good writing’ has to do with precision, eloquence, beauty and passionately held belief’ – Times Literary Supplement