An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge – for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan’s Atonement. It is fifteen years after the Second World War, and Isabel has built herself a solitary life of discipline and strict routine in her late mother’s country home, with not a fork or a word out of place. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel’s doorstep – as a guest, there to stay for the season…In the sweltering heat of summer, Isabel’s desperate need for control reaches boiling point.

What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024