First published 2021
Sinéad Hynes builds her reputation as a successful property developer while concealing something that could destroy everything she has worked for. She shares a hospital ward with other patients, but none of them know what brought her there. Her family remains equally in the dark. Only her computer searches and a magpie she watches outside her window know the truth she carries. Sinéad pushes herself relentlessly, trying to stay ahead of whatever haunts her past while dreading what lies ahead. The weight of her secret grows heavier each day. She cannot continue this exhausting performance much longer. The hospital becomes a place where she must finally confront what she has been running from. Sinéad faces a choice between the safety of silence and the risk of honesty. Her future depends on whether she can find the courage to stop hiding and start living.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Ireland
Period: 21st-century
400 pages · Paperback · Biblioasis
Content warnings: mental-illness