Rosemary has an extraordinary sister, Fern. When Rosemary is five, Fern suddenly disappears. The rest of this enthralling novel (shortlisted for the Booker Prize last year) deals with the fall-out: Rosemary’s grief that turns her from a cheery, loquacious child into a silent, friendless observer on the margins; her brother Lowell’s fury that propels him away from the family into the arms of lawbreaking organisations; and her parents’ loving, adventurous relationship that survives her father’s drinking and her mother’s sadness – but only just.This is, then, a novel about family life. A quarter of the way in, we discover just how extraordinary Fern is, but it would betray the book’s spirit to reveal the secret here. Fowler’s skill lies in rend