First published 2025
Claire O'Connor traded London's energy for Ireland's western coast when her father needed care. Two years after their breakup, Tom Morton appears in her small town for work. Claire scrolls through internet obsessions with traditional wives, goes to her job, and tries to keep her head down. Tom's presence forces her to examine what destroyed their relationship. The old house near her childhood home holds stories that refuse to stay buried. Claire faces a choice between confronting the violence that shaped generations of women in her family or remaining trapped by secrets. The past crashes into her ordinary days of work routines and online distractions. She must decide if love can survive in a place scarred by pain, and whether the truth will free her or destroy any chance at moving forward.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, second-chance
Setting: Ireland, London
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Hardcover · Harvill Secker
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, violence