From 1960s Italy to present-day Ireland, Ripeness is a haunting, luminous tale of love, grief, and the lifelong search for where we truly belong, from Sarah Moss, bestselling author of Summerwater.

''Moss makes every moment count'' - The Sunday Times

''The achievement of a lifetime'' - Jessie Burton

''A book of lasting pleasures'' - Eleanor Catton

''A powerful and beautifully written story of family, friendship and identity'' - Guardian

Just out of school and teetering on the brink of adulthood, Edith is sent alone to rural Italy. Her task is simple: support her sister Lydia, a brilliant but brittle ballet dancer, through the final weeks of her pregnancy. Once the child is born, she is to make a phone call that will change all of their lives forever.

Decades later, Edith is living a contented life in Ireland, happily divorced and unexpectedly free. But when her friend Méabh receives a call from a stranger claiming to be her brother, everything shifts. As Méabh confronts a history she never knew she had, Edith is pulled back into the long-buried story of the baby she once held, and lost.

''Tender and rueful . . . Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence''

- Emma Donoghue

''One of our greatest living writers''

- Katherine May, author of Wintering

Praise for Sarah Moss:

''Throws much contemporary writing into the shade''

- Hilary Mantel

‘One of our very best contemporary novelists’

- Independent

''A brilliant mind''

- The Guardian

''Moss has quietly been putting out some of the most interesting and carefully sculpted novels of recent years''

- Financial Times

''One of the finest contemporary writers working in Britain today''

- Stylist

''Is Sarah Moss the best British writer never nominated for the Booker?''

- Daily Mail

''Nothing escapes her sly humour and brilliant touch''

- Jessie Burton

''The most brilliant writer. She deserves to win all the prizes''

- Joanna Trollope