A gorgeously written novel set over the course of one life-changing summer in an isolated Australian coastal town

Adrift during the summer after she finishes college, a young woman takes a holiday with her mother in the rugged Australian coastal town of Sailor’s Beach. As she searches for something, anything, to anchor her in the face of an uncertain future, Jude arrives. Jude, an older man who offers her the stability she craves. Jude, who will change everything.

Many years later, as questions about past and present gain a new urgency, she looks back on the summer that shaped her and the woman she yearned to become.

Hypnotic and sensual, headily atmospheric, Madelaine Lucas’ debut is a beautiful story about a young woman at a crossroads, pulled between loyalty to her family, and a longing for a life of her own.