THE FIRST PATRICK MELROSE NOVEL. At his mother's family house in the south of France Patrick Melrose has the run of a magical garden. Bravely imaginative & self-sufficient five-year-old Patrick encounters the volatile lives of adults with care. His father David rules with considered cruelty & Eleanor his mother has retreated into drink. They are expecting guests for dinner. But this afternoon is unlike the chain of summer days before & the shocking events that precede the guests' arrival tear Patrick's world in two. This title was originally published along with Bad News & Some Hope as part of a 3-book package also called Some Hope.