by Ali Smith
First published 1997
Thirteen-year-old Sarah confronts her fractured family history in a remote Norfolk village. Her mother's mysterious past and absent father create an emotional minefield where truth becomes a weapon. When Sarah begins investigating her own origins, she discovers a network of painful connections that threaten to expose long-buried family trauma. Her relentless curiosity forces uncomfortable revelations about identity, abandonment, and the complex bonds that both destroy and sustain families. Smith crafts an intimate portrait of adolescent determination colliding with generational silence.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Great Britain, Norfolk
344 pages · Paperback · Little Brown and Company
Content warnings: emotional-abuse