"As the day flattened into dusk, I made my way back, a load of...

"As the day flattened into dusk, I made my way back, a load of heavy wood upon my back, Christian sleeping in my arms. A little wind rushed through the elms, a chiffchaff called, the scent of lavender was on the air. That rainy early spring. As I came out of the woods, I saw a little light in a wattled house built in a dark hollow. Not yet in the village – not on the commons – this croft was some way out. A dog barked, short and sharp, and a woman appeared."

— from the novel Sinful Folk