‘I’ve been trying to tell everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each one of her novels is just a marvel’ Anne Tyler

Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt’s protege, her curious fascination for pond-life fed by his passionate interest in the natural world. Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope, but seems blind to the tragedy of her own emotional life. She thinks she’s outgrown her family, who were once her entire world – but she can’t seem to outgrow her childhood or lighten the weight of their mutual past.

‘A remarkable novel, utterly gripping…I read it at a single sitting, then I read it again, just for the pleasure of it’ Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

‘Full of blossoming insights and emotional acuity…a compelling and serious page-turner’ Observer