STELLA is running from her past. Jake is running from a mistake that could ruin his future. And both are running to Scotland.

Maggie O'Farrell's latest novel tells the disparate stories of two lives that start on different continents and end in a grand country hotel in the wilds of the north.

Stella is a radio producer in London, trying to escape the cloying attentions of her over-animated twin sister. Jake is a film director's assistant in Hong Kong, enjoying life as a single man until one terrible night on the town changes everything. Both are loners and neither is looking for love. Until they find each other.

Their parallel stories skid and skelter through the first half of this vividly-drawn book, leaving the reader entertained but confused initially as the narrative thread is intricately woven from Hong Kong to London, and from Italy to Scotland.

But the confusion is short-lived, replaced by total and utter enjoyment as the stories begin to merge into a cohesive whole.

Psychologically gripping, beautifully constructed and chock-full of crackling dialogue and cracking characters, this is a storytelling tour-de-force from a relatively new author (this is her third book) who deserves all the critical acclaim she is receiving.

Updated: 10:01 Wednesday, May 12, 2004