Book description
One cool March morning in London, MP Leo Barr is told that his brother,
Charlie, is dead. He has hanged himself from a chestnut tree in the
grounds of a mental hospital. His family reacts in different ways.
Charlie's mother, Imogen, sees no point in pretending that life is still
worth living - he was always her favourite. Leo and his lawyer brother
Roland fight, as they always have over Charlie. The fourth brother Ron,
a Catholic priest, must break the news to Charlie's wife, presently in
HMP Holloway.
In the days following Charlie's death the conflict builds among members
of this diverse and complex family. Who really loves whom? What are the
motives behind Roland's fixed antagonism towards Charlie? Is Leo right
to put his career on the line? Above and between them all is the
larger-than-life figure of Charlie. He follows no rules, not even about
dying, and it becomes clear that his tragedy is only part of a web of
mystery and deceit that connects them all.
As well as being a powerful human drama, LIES & LOYALTIES deals
with gritty contemporary issues in today's Britain. It moves from
parliament to prison, from church to mental hospital and from those who
conduct the law to the outcasts of society. But at the heart of the
novel is one family - divided by rivalry and frustrated love and forced,
at last, to learn the truth about themselves. Rachel Billington has
published many novels. She has been President of PEN, and is co-editor
of INSIDE TIME, the national newspaper for prisoners. She is married to
the director Kevin Billington.
