I can't remember the name of this book, have searched my book shelves and can't find it, and it's driving me mad! I tried asking chatGPT, which gave me the same title, but a different author everytime. And none of the authors had written a book by that name.
So what do I remember?
The title is something like "The song bird" or "Birdsong". Maybe Nightingale or Lark.
Its set just after WW1. A rich soldier (possibly a captain?) Comes home from war. I'm fairly sure he's called Harry. He has a "batman" who lives on/ near the beach.
Then there's a young singer called Lily. He courts her but her mum is quite strict on her spending time with men. The mum dies and he persuades Lily to marry him.
They get married, I think he bans her from performing any more and is generally an arsehole. Lily falls pregnant and then Harry stages a kidnapping, and tries to convince Lily that she's going mad. He hires a nurse who keeps her locked in her room. She escapes.
I won't give away the ending on the off chance anyone wants to read it based on that.
Thanks.