Oh, I really like this. On a skiing trip in Sweden, Harry walks past an extraordinarily beautiful girl. A few seconds, and she’s gone; Harry cannot stop thinking about her, but resigns himself to never seeing her again. Then, days later on a ship, there she is — will Harry now get his chance? There’s a wonderful energy to the telling of this story, perfectly matching the heightened state of Harry’s emotions.

I’ve discovered that, as with Leonard Merrick, much of Sansom’s work is not readily available these days; which is unfortunate, because I would love to read more by this writer.

Rating: ****