Novels that interweave the past and the present are always sure to appeal to readers young and old and this magical tale of a house whose history comes to haunt its new occupier proves a compelling and unusual read.

In 2004 young social worker Sophia Morgan escapes from traumatic experiences at home in the North to train as a journalist in London. On the track of a story she ends up in North London where she falls in love with a tiny house painted lavender, quickly moves in and makes friends with the occupants of her city street.

There's the independent Bobbi, aged 10, whose widowed father Sparrow seems to have vanished; the American Dee who knits for a living; the dreamy architect Steve who was born in the same street; and the elderly Julia who wears hotpants and still thinks it is 1969.

Despite its attractions, the Lavender House proves to have a sinister history and, as its secrets emerge, events in 1960s gangland London begin to cast their shadows on the present day and to change forever the lives of Sophia and her new friends.

In Robertson's gifted hands, an eclectic mix of characters take on a life of their own, living the events of the past through the world as it is today. Thoroughly entertaining.


(Headline, paperback, £6.99)