Frances Tomelty reads Bernard MacLaverty's new novel, his first in sixteen years.

A retired Northern Irish couple, Stella and Gerry Gilmore, have flown to Amsterdam from their home in Glasgow for a long weekend.

Their relationship seems safe, easy, familiar but over the course of a few days it becomes clear that their growing differences may be too much for their 40-year marriage to withstand. Gerry, once an architect, is a heavy drinker who is set in his ways. Stella, a retired teacher, is tired of his lifestyle and angry at his constant undermining of her religious faith. She wants to leave him but doesn't know if she has the strength to go through with it.

Reader: Frances Tomelty

Writer: Bernard MacLaverty

Abridger: Kirsteen Cameron

Producer: Kirsteen Cameron. Show less