The world is a puzzling, sometimes frightening place for Jessica Fontaine. As a child she only finds contentment in playing the piano and wandering alone in the empty spaces of Audlands Hall, the dilapidated country house where she grows up.

Twenty-five years later, divorced, with her son still living at home, Jessica remains preoccupied by the desire to create space around her. Then her volatile ex-husband reappears, the first of several surprises that both transform Jessicas present and give her a startling new perspective on the past.

THE LANGUAGE OF OTHERS tells the absorbing story of a woman who spends much of her life feeling that she is out of step with the real world, until she discovers why. Related with humour and compassion, it offers a fresh, illuminating insight into what it means to be normal.

Reviews

'Pacy with an intriguing plot, Morrall has produced a joyful novel . . . Morrall combines thoughtful, satisfying writing with an accessible style. Expect plaudits all round.'

Birmingham Post

'A story of self-discovery, of difficult family relationships and redemptive friendships that slips between past and present and unfolds not so much a coming-of-age as a coming-to-understanding . . . An enjoyable, engrossing read'

Independent

'It's the warmth and roundedness of her characters that give Morrall's novels their appeal . . . THE LANGUAGE OF OTHERS offers a suspenseful tale with a taut, spare style and real emotional impact. In this and in its brave challenge to our assumptions about what it means to be normal it's a more than worthy shelfmate to Astonishing Splashes of Colour.'

Guardian

'A writer with a phenomenal imagination and power with words'

Scotsman

'Enthralling'

Irish Times

'She [Morrall] also has a talent for making characters who might ordinarily alienate readers seem appealing, funny and moving. The result is a surprisingly joyful novel'

Daily Mail

'Morrall's rewarding third novel combines strong characters and vital evocations of place with a greater psychological intensity'

Financial Times

'Not only very readable, but very moving; a funny, and occasionally sad, account of what it feels like to be outside the norm'

The Times

'Subtle and absorbing . . . Morrall has a talent for making pitiable characters triumphantly sympathetic'

Guardian