First published 2020
A woman on her deathbed makes an unexpected bequest. She leaves her cherished oxen to four people she has never met, each connected to fire, water, earth, and air. The fire recipient works in conflict zones, risking everything to rescue refugees from danger. The water inheritor discovers buried family truths while rebuilding a village well. The earth guardian battles developers who want to destroy his farmland. The air keeper faces relationship turmoil when her environmental activism clashes with her partner's beliefs. These four strangers must grapple with their sudden inheritance and what it means. Each carries personal wounds and fights different battles, yet the oxen connect them in ways they cannot initially understand. Their separate journeys reveal how individual struggles can transform into collective strength. Hislop shows how strangers become family and how loss can create unexpected bonds.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unexpected-inheritance
Profile Books Limited