First published 1988
Nancy Gulliver is eighteen when she encounters a stranger who will change everything. The year is 1920, and Ireland bleeds from the conflict tearing English and Irish apart. Nancy knows little of politics or war, but her new friendship draws her deeper into dangerous territory. The stranger carries secrets that could destroy lives. Nancy must navigate loyalties she never expected to question. What began as an innocent connection becomes something far more perilous. The violence spreading across the country reaches into her own world, forcing choices she never imagined making. Nancy discovers that friendship can be both salvation and trap, especially when the cost may be measured in blood.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Ireland
Period: 1920s
167 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books Ltd
Content warnings: violence