Sweet Caress

From the internationally bestselling author of Restless and Any Human Heart comes the remarkable story of Amory Clay—and a heartwrenching tale of love and war in the twentieth century.

Amory’s first memory is of her father standing on his head. She has memories of him returning on leave during the First World War. But his absences, both actual and emotional, are what she chiefly remembers. It is her photographer uncle, Greville, who supplies the emotional bond she needs, and, when he gives her a camera and some rudimentary lessons in photography, unleashes a passion that will irrevocably shape her future.

A spell at boarding school ends abruptly and Amory begins an apprenticeship with Greville in London, living in his flat in Kensington, earning two pounds a week photographing socialites for the fashionable magazines. But Amory is hungry for more and her search for life, love, and artistic expression will take her to the demimonde of Berlin of the late ’20s, to New York of the ’30s, to the Blackshirt riots in London and to France in the Second World War—where she becomes one of the first women war photographers. Her desire for experience will lead Amory to further wars, to lovers, husbands, and children as she continues to pursue her dreams and battle her demons.

In this captivating story of a life fully lived, William Boyd has created a sweeping panorama of some of the most defining moments of modern history, told through the
camera lens of one unforgettable woman, Amory Clay.

WILLIAM BOYD is the author of eleven novels, including A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread Award and the Somerset Maugham Award; An Ice-Cream War, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; Any Human Heart, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet; Restless, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year; Waiting for Sunrise; and, most recently, Solo: A James Bond Novel. William Boyd lives in London and France. www.williamboyd.co.uk