First published 2023
Jacy arrives at Dr. Ash's isolated cottage with her husband Jed, carrying their first child and feeling complete happiness. The doctor welcomes her warmly, though his housekeeper Mrs. Brandt remains cold and watchful. When Jacy suffers a medical emergency, everyone focuses intensely on her pregnancy. Strange talk about Jed's deceased mother begins to surface. Jacy finds herself confined to the cottage while others monitor her every move. They tell her the restrictions protect her baby, but Jacy suspects something darker. The thick forest around the cottage holds obvious threats, yet Jacy wonders if the real danger comes from the people closest to her. She must decide whether her growing paranoia stems from reasonable fear or represents the very condition others claim she suffers from.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: confined-setting, gaslighting, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cottage, Forest
304 pages · Hardcover · Virago
Content warnings: medical-trauma, mental-illness