Forbidden was not an easy story to read. In fact, reading it was a real struggle at times. It made my heart ache and my eyes hurt with unshed tears. Until the very end, when the tears eventually did flow freely. But in the end, it was all worth it, because Forbidden was such a thoughtprovoking, powerful and emotional story and despite all the anguish and heartbreak in it, it's eas. But in the end, it was all worth it, because Forbidden was such a thoughtprovoking, powerful and emotional story and despite all the anguish and heartbreak in it, it's easily one of the best books I've ever read.

James Runcie is an award-winning documentary film-maker and the author of four novels. His latest, East Fortune, is just published by Bloomsbury:. I did think I was doing something a bit different until I realised there were hundreds of novels about, ahem, brothers and family life. You can't beat it as a subject: submerged emotions, intense rivalries, unrealistic expectations, differing levels of secrecy, betrayals both major and minor, and the genetic identity we can never escape.

Incest can be found in many varieties of literature, from popular forms to serious fiction, either as an important thematic element or as an incidental element of the plot. Incest is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. Incest also appears in the writings of several major authors of science fiction.