Family is everything, even when it falls apart. Discover the brand-new novel from the multi-million-copy bestselling author.
 
‘The perfect holiday read ...There’s a new heft and grandeur, not only in the sophisticated characters and the fancy Italian real estate, but in the hidden darkness that can exist in a family ...
Rachel Joyce is firing on all cylinders.’
THE TIMES
 
‘A beautifully written family drama ... Long after I finished the last page, I found I missed these characters – always the sign of a special book’
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
 
'A thoroughly engaging examination of familial truths that define and endanger the precious, ever-precarious sibling bond. The beautiful writing, unforgettable characters, and stunning setting make this a must-read.'
Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
 
'It made me laugh, it made me cry and I couldn’t put it down. If you are a fan of Maggie O’Farrell you must read this.'
Louise Minchin, TV presenter and author of Isolation Island
 
There is a heatwave across Europe. Goose and his three sisters gather at the family's house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece.

Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting. Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is.
 
Extraordinarily compelling, at heart this is a novel about sibling relationships and those hairline cracks that can appear within a family: what what happens when they splinter, and what it would take to mend them.

'Sparkling and addictive … Rachel Joyce is so incredibly good and wise on families and siblings. I couldn’t love it more.'
Harriet Evans, author of The Garden of Lost and Found