by Jodi Picoult
First published 2022
Olivia McAfee rebuilds her life in New Hampshire after her marriage to a surgeon collapses. She returns to her childhood home and takes over her father's beekeeping operation. Her teenage son Asher starts dating Lily Campanello, a girl who recently moved to town with her mother for a fresh start. Lily finds happiness with Ash but questions whether she can trust him completely. The budding romance ends in tragedy when Lily dies and police arrest Asher for murder. Olivia believes her son is innocent, yet she recognizes flashes of his father's violent temper in the boy. As evidence mounts against Asher, Olivia discovers he has kept significant secrets from her. The case forces both mother and son to confront hidden truths about themselves and their family.
Genres: suspense, contemporary, mystery-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New Hampshire
464 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine
Content warnings: mental-illness, violence