At his mother's family house in the south of France, Patrick Melrose has
the run of a magical garden. Bravely imaginative and self-sufficient, five-
year-old Patrick encounters the volatile lives of adults with care. His
father, David, rules with considered cruelty, and Eleanor, his mother, has
retreated into drink. They are expecting guests for dinner. But this
afternoon is unlike the chain of summer days before, and the shocking
events that precede the guests' arrival tear Patrick's world in two.