by Pat Barker
First published 1986
Liza, a young woman, returns to the English countryside where she grew up. As she reconnects with her aging mother, Liza is forced to confront the traumas and mysteries of her past. Haunted by a childhood tragedy, Liza must sift through layers of family history to uncover the truth. Navigating a web of guilt, shame, and repressed memories, she struggles to make peace with her mother and find a path forward. In the end, Liza's journey home becomes a reckoning with the past that will forever shape her future.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, reckoning-with-the-past
Setting: England
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
284 pages · Paperback · Virago
Content warnings: mental-illness