First published 2015
Eight-year-old Peggy Hillcoat vanishes from London with her survivalist father James, who claims civilization has collapsed. Deep in a remote forest, they build a fragile existence—repairing a derelict cabin, hunting, surviving brutal winters with only each other. As years pass, Peggy's world narrows to her father's wilderness teachings and their isolated routine. When she discovers an unexpected object in the forest—a mysterious pair of boots—her careful understanding begins to unravel. Something doesn't add up about her father's story or their exile. Her search for truth will expose the delicate web of survival, deception, and love that has defined her entire childhood. One girl's quiet determination becomes her only path back to a world she barely remembers.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: deception, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Remote Forest
Period: 20th-century
394 pages · Paperback · Tin House
Content warnings: child-abuse, emotional-abuse