The hotel is on a rocky outcrop, half an hour east of Málaga. It has been
designed for families and inadvertently reveals, especially at mealtimes, the
challenges of being part of one. Rabih Khan is fifteen and on holiday with his
father and stepmother. The atmosphere among them is somber and the
conversation halting. It has been three years since Rabih’s mother died. A buffet
is laid out every day on a terrace overlooking the pool. Occasionally his
stepmother remarks on the paella or the wind, which has been blowing intensely
from the south. She is originally from Gloucestershire and likes to garden.
A marriage doesn’t begin with a proposal, or even an initial meeting. It begins
far earlier, when the idea of love is born, and more specifically the dream of a
soul mate.
