North Face — Mary Renault

Two wary souls find a second chance at love while rock climbing in the English countryside in this novel from the New York Timesâ€"bestselling author.
 On vacation in the North Devon countryside, Neil Langton looks back on the wreckage of his past. The wounds from his former marriage are still raw; his wife cheated on him and his young daughter died. The teacher and rock climber believes hope to be behind him until he comes across Ellen, a young woman staying at the same guesthouse as he, and whom he saves from a mountainside accident. Struggling to deal with her feelings for a pilot step-cousin who died in service, Ellen has her own romantic scars. If their connection is to endure, Neil and Ellen must carefully confront their painful pasts.
Filled with a memorable cast of secondary characters in austerity Britain, North Face is a love story rich in atmosphere and tension, from a master of the novelist's craft.