A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore (Penguin, £6.99 in UK) is a beautifully written novel which tells the story of a dysfunctional family caught in an ongoing trauma of their dead father and estranged mother and a grim grandfather with a secret past. The brother and sister caught in a passionate whirlpool of sibling loving told against a background of relationship intensity. The immense talent of the author spills on to the page with a lyrical description of an English countryside in winter, told with a dreamy intensity that holds the reader spellbound.