by Rachel Joyce
First published 2025
Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris Kemp have spent their lives orbiting their demanding father, world-famous artist Vic Kemp. When he calls them together, they expect news about his long-promised final painting. Instead, Vic announces his engagement to Bella-Mae, a twenty-seven-year-old artist. The siblings voice their concerns about the forty-nine-year age gap, prompting Vic to flee to Italy with his bride-to-be. Six weeks later, he dies suddenly at his Lake Orta home. The four children travel to Italy to retrieve his body and settle his estate, but they find no will and no trace of his promised masterpiece. Forced to spend the summer under the same roof as Bella-Mae while waiting to bring their father home, the siblings must confront years of buried resentments and their complicated relationship with Vic's legacy. As they try to understand who Bella-Mae really is and what she meant to their father, old family bonds begin to strain. The question becomes whether these four damaged adults can find a path forward together or if their father's final act will tear them apart forever.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: damaged-family, found-family, inheritance
Setting: Italy, Lake Orta
Period: Contemporary
336 pages · Hardcover · The Dial Press