When does passionate commitment tip over into self-harm?
Alys knows the dangers of surrendering to obsession. As a student, she suffered the tragic loss of a talented but deeply troubled friend. Since then, she's led a cautious existence as art teacher and single parent to her daughter, Rowan.
A change in circumstances - promotion and new home - brings opportunities, and even the chance of a rewarding relationship. But the reappearance of Fraser, from her college days, triggers fear that their shared guilt will blight the present. Forced to intervene in a delicate situation involving sixth-form students, she puts herself at risk of exposure, threatening both her professional and her private life.
Rowan, 19, feels at odds with an uncaring society but is determined to bring about change for animals and the environment, encouraged by her charismatic new lover, Vix. Often, though, she's overwhelmed by the scale of cruelty and destruction. How far can she go to stand up for her beliefs?
Rowan's fight for a fairer world seems unwinnable, and Alys has convinced herself that she doesn't deserve happiness. How can either of them, mother or daughter, find fulfilment?
From the award-winning author of Set in Stone and The One True Thing:
For readers who enjoy well-written, realistic, character-driven novels; likely to appeal to reading groups and to those who enjoy the work of Patrick Gale, Ann Patchett, Helen Dunmore and Clare Chambers.
Keywords: art, Egon Schiele, animal rights, animal activism, protest, rescue, second chance relationships, love, loss, independence, mother-daughter relationships, guilt, environment, climate emergency, forgiveness, reading group fiction, book group fiction
"A writer of quiet power" - Celia Rees, author of Witch Child