‘A perceptive, moving exploration of guilt, grief and complicity’

Sunday Express

‘Boyne does not put a foot wrong in this masterly novella’

Mail on Sunday

''An intriguing investigation of contemporary trauma... [a] short but powerful book''

Guardian

''His quietest novel... but one just as powerful as his larger canvases''

Business Post

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From million-copy-bestselling author John Boyne comes a masterfully reflective story about one woman coming to terms with the demons of her past and finding a new path forward.

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past.

But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.

Can you ever truly wash away your past?

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What readers are saying:

''A scorching, devastating tale''

''Powerful, challenging and beautifully written’

''Compelling, propulsive, and completely immersive’

''Written with the same emotional intensity and thought provoking honesty as his longer works’