Merham is a well-ordered 1950's seaside town: the kind of town in which everyone knows their place (and those who don't are promptly put in it). Lottie Switf, and evacuee who has grown up with the respectable Holden family, loves Merham while the Holden daughter Celia chafes against the constraints of the town. When a group of bohemians takes over Arcadia, a start ARt Deco hourse on the seafront, the girls are as drawn to its temptations as Merham's citizens are appaled by them. They set in place a chain of events which will have longstanding and tragic consequences for all concerned. Now, almost 50 years on, Arcadia is returning to life, and its inhabitants stirring up strong feelings again. And prompting more than one person to look into their own histry and ask: can you every leave your past behind?
Set in the 1950's, the life of 2 teenage girls are changed when a Art Deco house on the sea is inhabited by a group of bohemians. Merham, a quaint seaside town, is greatly disturbed by the group, but that entices the girls to visit as often as possible and explore the lives of the people living in the Arcadia house. Almost 50 years later, the house has been sold and is being renovated into a hotel bringing back the life of the old house and it's history. Once you get into the book you are hooked and want to discover what has happened to the 2 girls. Also you follow the life of the designer who is renovating the house, after having a baby, and having her designer/partner abandon her.
