An intelligent, haunting love story, with echoes of Brief Encounter, by one of the best British writers of the 20th century.

As a teenager, Harriet falls in love with Vesey and his elusive, teasing ways. When he goes to Oxford she cherishes his photograph and waits for the letter that never comes. Years pass, and with a husband and daughter, she excels at suburban respectability. But then Vesey reappears and her marriage seems to melt away. Harriet is older, it is much too late, but she still loves him.

'A Game of Hide and Seek showcases much of what makes Taylor a great novelist: piercing insight, a keen wit and a genuine sense of feeling for her characters' Elizabeth Day, Guardian

'A magnificent and underrated mid-20th-century writer, the missing link between Jane Austen and John Updike' David Baddiel, Independent

'Taylor has the genius of making her characters understood, sometimes with an almost frightening clarity, perhaps because she is compassionate as well as relentless in her delineation of them' The New York Times

'Her stories remain with one, indelibly, as though they had been some turning-point in one's own experience' - Elizabeth Bowen, author of The Heat of the Day

Intelligent and haunting, with echoes of Brief Encounter, this is a love story by one of the best British writers of the 20th century.

During summer games of hide and seek Harriet falls in love with Vesey and his elusive, teasing ways. When he goes to Oxford she cherishes his photograph and waits for a letter that never comes.

Years pass and Harriet stifles her dreams; with a husband and daughter, she excels at respectability. But then Vesey reappears and her marriage seems to melt away. Harriet is older, it is much too late, but she is still in love with him.