'A tour de force family drama' ELLE

'Bursting with poignancy' NEW YORKER

'Tender, absorbing' CATHERINE NEWMAN

'First-rate storytelling' BBC

'A riveting novel about how family molds us – for good and ill – and the grace that comes with forgiveness' PEOPLE MAGAZINE

Bill Blair finds the land by accident, three wooded acres in a rustic community south of San Francisco. The year is 1954, long before anyone will call this area Silicon Valley. It is here that he will fall in love with Penny Greenway, build a home and raise a perfect family.

Decades later, the lives of the three oldest Blair children are upended by the return of their younger brother, James – the wayward son – whose sudden presence forces to light the siblings' past rivalries and grievances, and sets off a struggle over the family's future.

From New York Times bestselling author, Ann Packer, The Children's Crusade explores the secrets, desires and heartbreaks of one Californian family over the course of five decades.

‘This is a novel with something to teach about forgiving the people we love’ NEWSDAY

'Superb … I’ve rarely read a novel so astute about the jumble of love and respect, rivalry and envy, empathy and scorn that makes up family dynamics’ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

'A beautiful novel that will stay with me' ABRAHAM VERGHESE