would have been too horrific to contemplate. They would not have survived it." At the time of the poisoning, Evans was three quarters of the way through his latest thriller, The Brave, about the corrosive nature of family secrets. For the second time in his life, he thought he might die before completing a book. (He was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma during The Horse Whisperer.) When he went back to the narrative, he found his real-life drama tugging the novel in a different direction. "I had new-found empathy for the characters. It became much more emotional." It has changed him, too. "I've always been somebody who worried about things I haven't done right and about the future. Perhaps because of the looming mortality, I am much more able to live in the moment now. This spring was so beautiful in our part of the country. Waves of snowdrops, then primroses, bluebells, garlic. It was almost unbearably intense and I know that's wrapped up with feelings about the preciousness of life." Charlotte has brought out a moving album of new songs inspired by The Brave. Her husband is about to help campaign for organ donation. It would be surprising if he did not also weave his experiences into a new book. "The whole transplant business," he says, "is emotionally and psychologically absolutely devastating. You think you know about it then something happens that shows another layer of complexity. It is a very rich subject, but I am not ready to