The Things We Know Now

A story of a family torn apart by conflict, suspicion and loss. It is also a story, ultimately, of redemption and forgiveness - and the strength of severely-tested family bonds. When Patrick Grant's wife, Cecilia, dies suddenly, he is grief-stricken. He feels lost, unable to come to terms with life without his constant companion of thirty years.And he is filled with regret for all of his previous bad behaviour. His younger daughters are distraught at the change in their energetic, purposeful father. But the eldest, Rebecca, has never forgiven Patrick for his past callous treatment of her mother. She resents what she sees as his selfishness, his charming manipulation of others. She knows that her father has always been a man accustomed to getting what he wanted. When Patrick meets Ella, he seizes the opportunity of a new life with her: all that promise of a bright and easeful future. Then Daniel is born and Patrick's happiness is complete. A son at last. He now has everything he ever wanted. He adores Daniel: a golden child, talented, artistic, loving. And then tragedy strikes. When Daniel is fourteen, he kills himself. His death shatters his parents' world and has a powerful impact on the lives of others. Patrick is forced to re-evaluate his life, his role as husband and father, all his previous assumptions about family. Together with Ella, he is forced to embark on a voyage of discovery. He must confront uncomfortable truths about himself, about the privileged world he and Ella both inhabit and above all, about his son and what drove him to cut short his young life.