The slaves of solitude ([New] edition)

'All his novels are terrific, but this one is my favourite' Sarah WatersPatrick Hamilton's novels were the inspiration for Matthew Bourne's new dance theatre production, The Midnight Bell. Measuring out the wartime days in a small town on the Thames, Miss Roach is not unattractive but no longer quite young.

The Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house, where she lives with half a dozen others, is as grey and lonely as its residents.

For Miss Roach, 'slave of her task-master, solitude', a shaft of not altogether welcome light is suddenly beamed upon her, with the appearance of a charismatic and emotional American Lieutenant.

With him comes change - tipping the precariously balanced society of the house and presenting Miss Roach herself with a dilemma.