The Travelling Hornplayer

When Ellen Dent's sister, Lydia, is knocked down by a car outside Jonathan Goldman's London flat, her death has far-reaching and entirely unexpected consequences. Jonathan, for instance, is on a train at the time, travelling toward his wife and house in the country. An admired novelist, he has just said good-bye to his mistress, the gladiatorial Sonia, and is planning to repair his fractured marriage, but fears that he has been outwitted by Sonia's wiles. He is also expecting a visit from his daughter, the mad, bad Stella - once a sickly child, now a flame-haired cello player with a genius painter lover.
After her sister's funeral, Ellen returns to university in Edinburgh, but finds that things have changed. Her house mates from the previous year have left - olive-skinned Izzy, Stella of the cello, and Pen, her indispensable companion - leaving behind them a drawing and an old copy of Heart of Darkness. Lydia's death reveals new and surprising truths about everyone whose lives she touched, and as the story unfolds and the past opens up, a wonderful dance of death and love is unveiled.