Bayeux immerses the reader in the customs and mores that prevailed at a pivotal time in the UK’s cultural history. The ‘Sixties’ was a decade of two fascinating halves: psychedelia, Biba and second-wave feminism were not properly underway until well after 1965. By contrast, the first half of the decade represented a cultural continuation of the postwar era, stifled in its austere reserve and misogyny. It is this earlier period that has shaped the language and moral compasses of Elizabeth, Adam and Helena, who manage through sheer resilience to recalibrate their lives after being trapped in what is generally regarded to be society’s most shocking taboo.

There are numerous excellent books about the 1960s, but here are four that were particularly useful in writing Bayeux: