Named a Best Book of Fall 2026 by The Walrus "Idon'tknow how she does it. I was so emotionally invested in these characters from the very first page. Mary Lawson has the rare ability to find extraordinary beauty and warmth in the most unexpected places.She'sone of my all-timefavouritewriters. Utterly captivating."-- Graham Norton "Ikept turning the pages, desperate to know how it wouldend."-- Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry "A wonderful book, written witha clear-eyed compassion and a fine eye for detail. A masterpiece of insight into what it means to be fully flawed and perfectly human.

I loved it." -- JoanneHarris, author of Chocolat "An out-and-out masterpiece; I was completely hooked after two pages." -- Cressida Connolly, author of Bad Relations and After the Party "Empathy abounds in Lawson's text: each character's perspective becomes a narrative weft coloured by their traumas and prejudices. Her prose also lays bare how decorum--whether expected or volunteered--runs a rural community." --The Walrus, 'The Best Books of Fall 2026'.