Peculiar Ground

In her literary fiction debut, Lucy Hughes-Hallett crafts a captivating historical novel that spans three centuries, intertwining themes of immigration and exclusion through the lives at Wychwood, a grand English country house. Beginning in the seventeenth century as a wall is erected around the estate, the story reveals hidden secrets amidst tensions following civil war, while later eras—including a dramatic weekend in 1961 and the fall of the Berlin Wall—unfold against the backdrop of personal and societal change. With rich character portrayals and intricate storytelling, the novel illuminates how past and present intertwine, revealing the complexities of love, loss, and the barriers we create.