For John Cameron,returning to take up the post of headmaster at his old primary school,is not everything he imaghined it would be.As he tries to come to terms with his wife's miscarriage,he becomes struck by an obsessive need to care for children. Haunted by memories,both in real life and in dreams,events slowly start to slide towards disaster a disaster he feels only he can avert. THE RYE MAN is deeply evocative and powerful novel about the links between past and present.