The Things We Don't Say

Nearly sixty years ago the renowned London artist Patrick Adams painted his most famous work: a portrait of his beloved Emma Temple, a fellow bohemian with whom he shared his life. Years after Patrick's death, ninety-year-old Emma still keeps the painting above her bed at their country home, a testament to their love.

To Emma's granddaughter Laura, the portrait is also a symbol of what is to come: it serves as collateral for her tuition at a prestigious music school. Then an appraiser claims the painting is a fraud. For Laura the accusation jeopardises her future; for Emma it casts doubt on everything she believed about her relationship with Patrick.

Laura is determined to prove that Patrick did paint the portrait, because both his legacy and her grandmother's are worth fighting for. As the two women's stories entwine, Emma must summon the past, at the risk of revealing its unspoken secrets. Ella Carey's novel moves between England, France and the present day.