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Family is everything, even when it falls apart.
Discover the brand-new novel from the multi-million-copy bestselling author.

AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!

Family is everything, even when it falls apart: discover the brand-new novel from the multi-million-copy bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Ann Patchett and Maggie O'Farrell.

There is a heatwave across Europe.

Goose and his three sisters gather at the family's house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy.

Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece. Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting.

Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is.

Extraordinarily compelling, at heart this is a novel about sibling relationships and those hairline cracks that can appear within a family: what what happens when they splinter, and what it would take to mend them.

Featuring an exclusive interview between Rachel Joyce and bestselling author, Sarah Winman. Listen to the end for a fascinating insight into their writing processes and their experiences of narrating their audiobooks.

'A sharp, absorbing and emotionally intelligent novel.' Guardian

‘A beautifully written family drama ... Long after I finished the last page, I found I missed these characters – always the sign of a special book’ - GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'Joyce, who was an actor before she turned exclusively to writing, modulates her [tone] with immense delicacy. It’s impossible not to feel the comedy inherent in the siblings’ well-worn to and fro, nor the sorrow when their bonds begin to break down.' – Financial Times

©2025 Rachel Joyce (P)2025 Penguin Audio