The Long Shadow by Mark Mills

13 year old Ben Makepeace watches his friend Jacob Hogg sledge a dangerous corner and come careering off into a field of wickedly sharp saplings.  As he runs down the hill to the body lying still  he is briefly convinced Jacob is dead but as he opens his eyes and smiles Ben is both relieved and angry.

31 years on Ben is an unsuccessful screenwriter trying to be there for his 13 year old son Toby as his ex wife Madeleine moves on with her life with new partner Lionel, and keep his head above water.  His agent calls to say billionaire Victor Sheldon has expressed an interest in Ben's screenplay and wants to meet him at his country pile, Stoneham House near Oxford.  Victor turns out to be Jacob, the boy who took up the world of high finance and immense fortune that both Jacob and Ben were groomed for as schoolboys at Dean House boarding school.  Victor offers Ben space at Stoneham House to finish his screenplay.  Ben meets and begins to fall for sculptor Mo, he plays cricket with the local villagers, Toby comes to stay and meets Victor's son Marcio, and after helping Victor out with the purchase of a vintage speedboat Ben is rewarded with the offer of a lifetime.  But doubts begin to creep in as small events expose cracks in the rich beauty of the surface of Victor's life and Ben finds himself facing a past in which a single misunderstanding has blighted a life.

My only reason for not giving this 5 stars was the predictability, however, it is beautifully written, a sad story about what man a childhood can create if the child is not loved and cherished.