A Word Child (proofread)

A brilliant but deeply flawed man struggles to earn absolution. Hilary Burde was a rising star in academia until a tragic accident plunged him and his mentor and rival, Gunnar Jopling, into two decades of depression and guilt. Hilary, unable to overcome his pain, abandoned his promising career for an unfulfilling job as a civil servant. But at age forty-one, Hilary crosses paths again with Gunnar, initiating a series of events that will change their lives forever. Set against a richly drawn backdrop of post-war London, A Word Child is a gripping story of passion and the redemptive power of love. Hilary Burde, saved by education from a delinquent childhood, cheated out of Oxford by a tragic love triangle, cherishes his obsessive guilt and disappointment in a dull civil service job. When the man he has harmed reappears as head of his department, Hilary hopes for forgiveness and a new life