First published 2024
Isabel has spent fifteen years perfecting her solitary existence in her deceased mother's country house. Every fork sits in its designated place. Every day follows the same careful pattern. The Second World War ended long ago, but Isabel still guards her controlled world with fierce discipline. Then her brother Louis arrives with Eva, his new girlfriend, announcing she will spend the summer season as Isabel's houseguest. Isabel watches this graceless stranger invade her sanctuary, disrupting the order she has worked so hard to maintain. As the summer heat intensifies, so does Isabel's desperate grip on control. The two women circle each other in the stifling house, their interactions building toward something neither expects. What unfolds between them will expose a truth that threatens to destroy everything Isabel believes about her carefully constructed life. In the end, she must confront whether the rigid boundaries she has built protect her or imprison her.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller, lesbian-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, claustrophobic, dark, intimate, introspective, tense
Tropes: forced-proximity, internal-conflict, slow-burn, unreliable-narrator
Setting: country house
Period: post-World War II
265 pages · Paperback · Penguin
Content warnings: emotional-abuse, mental-illness