Meeting Point, The (Winner Of Dylan Thomas Prize 2011)

Description: When Euan and Ruth set off with their young daughter to live in Bahrain, it is meant to be an experience and adventure they will cherish. But on the night they arrive, Ruth discovers the truth behind the missionary work Euan has planned and feels her world start to crumble. Far from home, and with events spiralling towards war in nearby Iraq, she starts to question her faith - in Euan, in their marriage and in all she has held dear. With Euan so often away, she is confined to their guarded compound with her neighbours and, in particular, Noor, a troubled teenager recently returned to Bahrain to live with her father. Confronted by temptations and doubt, each must make choices that could change all of their lives forever. Compelling, passionate and deeply resonant, "The Meeting Point" is a novel about idealism and innocence, about the unexpected turns life can take and the dangers and chances that await us.

Prizes: Winner of Dylan Thomas Prize 2011.

Author Biography: Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She read English at Queens' College, Cambridge, and is a graduate of Goldsmith's MA in Creative and Life Writing. Her debut novel Where They Were Missed (2006), was described in the Independent as 'beautifully paced, evocative and unfaltering ... an object lesson in balancing the personal and the political'. An award-winning playwright, she is currently under commission to write for the main stage of the Royal Court Theatre.

Set against the stifling backdrop of expat life in Bahrain, this is a compellingly readable novel of love and loss, faith and betrayal.