Undue Influence - Tapa dura

Enigmatic Claire is 30 and lives alone in Marylebone. She works in the basement of a bookshop where she transcribes and compiles unpublished articles. She is content with her life, although she recognises she has become more reserved and independentsince her wilder student days. When Claire meets the Gibsons she becomes fascinated with Martin's submission to Cynthia. So when news arrives of Cynthia's death she finds herself increasingly attracted to Martin - hoping to learn the arts of connivance and complicity. They embark upon an affair, and despite her claims to independence, Claire is increasingly obsessed with penetrating Martin's guarded exterior. And so it comes as a terrible shock when she learns he is involved with someone else.

Anita Brookner was born in London in 1928. She trained as an art historian and taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art until 1988. She lives in London (SW). UNDUE INFLUENCE is her 19th novel.