Love Lane by Patrick Gale

‘With Love Lane, Gale gets right to the secret joys and hidden heartbreaks of ordinary, flawed family life. A tender, delicately devastating novel’ Sarah Waters

‘Love Lane moved me greatly. The novel has a great sweep, in its story, and in the richness and vividness of each of its character.This is a book about secrets and lies, yet Gale has such an exact and elegant power as a storyteller that the experience of reading the novel is rousing. I think it wonderful’ Christos Tsiolkas

‘Miraculous, mischievous and quietly devastating, Love Lane is the irresistible story of five individuals, linked by the past and yet separated by the present. I have just fallen in love with a beautiful book‘ Rachel Joyce

A reunion. A journey. A longing for a place called home…

When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane is obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth.

His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long buried anger she has never before expressed. Harry’s effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is.

Can Harry stay and make a new life before it’s too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?

LOVE LANE is a searing portrayal of escape and entrapment, and a powerful exploration of what home and family can really be.

‘ Love Lane is the story of a family, told beautifully and with deep understanding. There is no judgement here, only humanity. A joy and a lesson for our time‘ Ann Cleeves

‘An involving story of reconciliation, secrets and compromises, rich in emotional truth and evocative historical detail’ Clare Chambers

‘I adored this book. Patrick Gale is one of the world’s greatest storytellers. All the characters have unspoken truths. Hugely comforting and an absolute joy to read’ Joanna Cannon

What readers say about Patrick Gale:

‘The gift of Patrick Gale is to tell a story with such poise and grace of prose that you are wound deeply around every step of the unfolding tale’

‘Gale is one of those skilled writers who makes you forget you’re reading a book’

‘Gale is

Harry Cane, from the Costa shortlisted, bestselling A PLACE CALLED WINTER, returns to England, but will his home and family welcome him back?

About the Author: Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight and now lives on a farm near Land’s End. One of this country’s best-loved novelists, his most recent works are A Place Called Winter, Take Nothing With You and Mother’s Boy. His BBC ‘Queer Britannia’ television drama, Man In An Orange Shirt, was shown to great acclaim in 2017 and won an International Emmy Award.

26 Mar 2026
 

Love Lane: A searing portrayal of escape and the power of love, home and a family by Patrick Gale ISBN 9781472257482