Raking the Ashes

Full of insight and dark humour, the story of a man, his two children and their stepmother, who gradually finds herself an outsider in her own home.
Whether its lovers, colleagues or family, Tilly has always been good at pushing people in and out of her life exactly as it suits her. Then along comes Geoffrey, gentle, compassionate, generous to a fault, with his miserable little children and his manipulative ex-wife.
Tilly’s own expertise in the arts of deception and avoidance should be enough to make sure she’s always one step ahead of Geoffrey’s crumbling family. But time and again she finds herself staying, brought down by their cowardly backsliding and their barefaced lies. How has she managed to stay so long in a relationship she knows perfectly well has to be doomed? More importantly, how can Tilly plan her permanent escape?
Anne Fine’s sixth novel is a scintillating comedy about the ties that bind more savagely than any other — those of families.