The Circle

Her husband Ben has been having an affair with the au pair, and as their relationship slides he retreats more and more into his work in a science lab. Sons Alan and Michael may appear happy enough, but this is far from the case – both are responding to a physical world which they alone inhabit. And Lena – desperately lost and seeking an identity of her own, both inside and outside of her family unit – increasingly finds solace at the bottom of a bottle.

Elaine Feinstein’s 1970 novel was longlisted for the Lost Man Booker, in 2010.