I warmed to these people immediately - surely their past lives couldn't be so dreadful? Their complex stories and dark secrets held me spellbound.
And yet, as September wore on, Sara began to see the Olmedos in a different light, possibly suspecting that they all - both she and her neighbours - were destined to live side by side like the only survivors of a shipwreck, tossed onto the beach of a desert island by a capricious sea.