Larchfield is a beautiful story of the shock of new parenthood and the loneliness experienced by outsiders in small communities.

It's classified as literary fiction and is beautifully written but it's a reasonably easy, pleasurable read. Polly Clark successfully weaves elements of gothic fiction and historical fiction into what is essentially a contemporary story of motherhood, creativity and mental illness.

The image of the tortured creative mind sits well against the backdrop of the unforgiving villagers in the harsh Scottish landscape.

Both past and present protagonists have recently moved from the cloistered, permissive world of a university town to the tight-knit rules-based community of Helensburgh.

Wystan uses his poetry to escape mentally; and his wealth to escape literally - albeit temporarily.

Dora, in the modern day, is trapped by the demands of a premature infant, abusive neighbours and a hostile husband who just wants her to 'fit in'.

What transpires across the centuries is a redemptive story of broken minds trying to heal themselves and the enormous difference a little compassion and understanding can make.

Wystan is a wonderfully whimsical and - against all odds - optimistic character who balances out Dora's comparatively dark and paranoid spiral.

I highly recommend this to fans of Anna Spargo-Ryan's The Paper House and anything from the Bronte sisters.