Title: The gate leads nowhere
Description: 'The Gate Leads Nowhere' is a hauntingly beautiful and poignant tale of a man, scarred from the war, living in a self-imposed exile and of a woman who heals him, helps him embrace the world and in the journey, finds what she has been looking for all along. 

Victor Draycott, belongs to the illustrious Draycott family of Bededown. A handsome man with charming manners and a dazzling personality, Victor was quite the ladies' man. But bad luck strikes when his face is badly burnt during the war and he has to undergo a surgery. However, his world truly comes crashing down when his beautiful, young fiancee shrieks in terror on seeing his face and refuses to marry him. Shattered, he hides himself from the world and lives a monastic life. After seven whole years, hope and happiness arrive in the form of Bridget, his brother's wife. The story starts from this point onwards and the plot has quite a few twists and turns which keep the reader entertained. Somehow, the character of Bridget reminded me of Rebecca's nameless protagonist - the second wife of the enigmatic Maxim de Winter; both are young with nerves of steel. This is also a tale of two siblings who, tormented by their own imperfect childhood and driven mad by jealousy, scheme and connive to get rid of their older brother. 

Here's an excerpt from the book:

"..Victor who had courteous and pleasant greetings for everyone from the most distinguished guest to the little urchin on the flat-tyred bike who had ridden up from the village. Victor, who rode like a centaur, a very part of his horse, who had no knowledge of fear....That Victor was finished, scarred maimed and half-mad."
Subjects: England, Romance
Places: Durban