by Jo Walton
First published 2018
The poor relations have carved out their precarious lives in the vicinity of a great estate. They survive on scraps and charity, bound together by necessity and shared circumstances. Their delicate arrangement faces destruction when an outsider arrives who knows too much about what they've hidden. The family closes ranks to preserve their survival, but class tensions and old betrayals create fractures within their group. Each member must choose between self-preservation and loyalty as their makeshift bonds strain under pressure. The newcomer's presence forces them to confront not only their secrets but also questions of where they truly belong. Their struggle reveals how families form not just from blood but from shared need, and how those on society's margins must fight to protect even the smallest space they can claim as their own.
Genres: fiction, family, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, outsider-arrives
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century, 21st-Century
320 pages · Hardcover · Tor Books