ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE BRITISH WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
'Lehmann legitimised a type of writing that took on deep personal themes' ENGLISH PEN
'Full of her sensibility, her funniness, her own particular acumen' ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD
'Not to worry: Shad and company will rescue Sarah before the worst happens' KIRKUS REVIEWS
In 1933 we meet Rebecca, heroine of The Ballad and the Source - but in a different world, on many levels. Betrayed by her married lover, Rebecca arrives alone at a small Caribbean island. Here, along with the splendidly eccentric members of the British expatriate colony, she meets the former ace pilot Johnny, crippled now, a misanthropic recluse: for both of them their passionate affair the powerful life force love can be. Here too she encounters voices from the past and the vibrant spirit of Mrs. Jardine - voices which remind Rebecca of the girl she was and the woman she could become.
This is a poignant, uplifting novel about the lives we leave behind, our eternal quest for love, and the answers we seek when our faith is shaken.