Truth or fiction - Jennifer Johnston

Desmond Fitzmaurice is famous, ancient and mysterious: a literary giant of the thirties whom no one has seen for years. And Caroline, a London journalist, hasn't the faintest interest in going to Dublin to interview him; what are the chances, after all, that his life story will feature 'lots of sex and some violence', as the old man claims? She'll stay for a couple of nights, extract what she can and try to make his life sound interesting, if at all possible.

But in Desmond's quiet house, his quiet life, Caroline finds much, much more than she bargained for...