First published 2022
Sarah Thornhill knows she belongs with Jack. Their connection feels natural and right, but Sarah's family stands firmly against their union. One relative refuses to accept the relationship, harboring reasons rooted in events both recent and long past. This opposition forces Sarah to make choices she never expected. Her journey takes her far from home, crossing an ocean to lands she had never dreamed of seeing. The family's resistance stems from tangled histories that stretch back through generations. Sarah must navigate these complex legacies while fighting for her future with Jack. Grenville returns to the world she created in The Secret River, exploring how old wounds shape new lives. Sarah discovers that some family stories have been buried for good reason, while others demand to be told. Her struggle becomes one of love against history, individual desire against family loyalty, and the question of which stories deserve to survive.
Genres: family, romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Australia
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
310 pages · Paperback · Canongate Books