Essentially a women's story, it is about the relationship between two sisters Elena and Evelyn who, abandoned by their mother in childhood, find the emotional and psychological traumas of their past resurfacing as they struggle to raise children of their own.

Evelyn and Elena are sisters, 'fiercely close: Growing up without a mother, they have nourished each other, creating their own versions of reality.

Now Evelyn is missing, and the certainties of Elena's adult life shattered.

Daily routine no longer soothes her; the cocoon of safety she has woven around her husband and two sons no longer seems enough.

In Evelyn's diary, she can find no trace of the sister she knew. Anger and blame, the pull of memory and blood fill its terrifying pages.

Only by facing the buried secrets in her own life can Elena reach a hard-won understanding of her sister - and herself.

The profound consequences of abandonment and the promise' of renewal are all deftly explored here in language that pierces the heart.

In One Skin is an elegant and evocative novel that reveals the hooks and ties of family life.

Photograph /Danielle Thomson Design /Jenny Grigg