J. L. Carr

It is 1929 and young George Ginder is desperate to exchange the toils of teaching in Bradford for a job in the land of his heroes: the Wild West of America. So he buys a third - class ticket and sets off on a journey from Liverpool that will eventually bring him to Palisades, South Dakota.

On a long, hot summer's day Great Minden prepares for its annual feast, an age old tradition. But memories of the more recent past shatter the calm of the country town, as a host of buried secrets are unearthed.

In the summer of 1920, a young man escapes London to embark on the unveiling of a medieval church wall painting in a small north country village. As he becomes absorbed by his work he also gets drawn into the lives of those around him.