First published 2025
Luke has always known he was adopted, but fatherhood changes everything. Living in London with his wife Hannah and newborn son Samuel, Luke feels compelled to find his birth mother Alice for the first time. Their reunion opens old wounds neither expected. Alice retreats into memories of 1970s London, where she was a young artist caught in a tragic romance with a mysterious musician. Luke confronts the abandonment he buried years ago. Alice seems eager to bond with her grandson Samuel, but her grandmother role turns dark and troubling. As Alice's past unfolds and the painful truth behind her decision emerges, both she and Luke must face what they sacrificed while searching for love and a place to belong.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, adoption, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: London
Period: 1970s, 21st-century
368 pages · Paperback · John Murray