Twelve-year-old Parisian boy Louis Whittaker has a lot on his plate - his parents are locked in a custody battle over him and his brother and sister, Mum's always working late and Dad's rarely allowed to visit them. Louis finds release in his dance classes and discovers he has a real talent for ballet. But suddenly, Dad whisks them away on a surprise holiday to England, right in the middle of the school term. Something isn't right - Dad is acting strangely again: could it be he has not fully recovered from his mental breakdown? The rented farmhouse in the Lake District is nice, but why is Dad furnishing it and why won't he let them call home? Then Louis comes across a poster - a missing person's poster. And it has his face on it.

Tabitha Suzuma was born in 1975 and lives in London. She has always loved writing and would regularly get into trouble at the French Lycée for writing stories instead of listening in class. She used to work as a primary school teacher and now divides her time between writing and tutoring. Her first novel,A Note of Madness, was published to great critical acclaim.

When you've destroyed the life you once had, can you ever return?