Jemma Wayne Knihy

New novel from Baileys Woman's Prize for Fiction Longlisted author that explores the complexities of human emotion and human relationships against a background of conflict in Israel.

For so many years it haunted. And in the end, all it took was a decision. One decision.Lilith is a successful Hollywood screenwriter and life in LA could not be more different from the small Buckinghamshire village where she grew up. But everything changes when her ex-boyfriend’s child goes missing. Lilith is convinced that she's responsible, and that she might have done something terrible. The disappearance reignites old fears and compulsions and the psychological trauma of her childhood comes rushing back. Lilith is forced to confront the past and watch the foundations of the world she has created to protect herself and her loved ones disintegrate around her.

“That was the day that Mama made the rules: If they come, run. Be quiet and run. But not together. Never together. If one is found, at least the other survives….”During a cold, British winter, three women reach crisis point. Emily, an immigrant survivor of the Rwandan genocide is existing but not living. Vera, a newly Christian Londoner is striving to live a moral life, her happiness constantly undermined by secrets from her past. Lynn, battling with an untimely disease, is consumed by bitterness and resentment of what she hasn’t achieved and what has been snatched from her.Each suffering their own demons, their lives have been torn open by betrayal: by other people, by themselves, by life itself. But as their paths interweave, they begin to unravel their beleaguered pasts, and inadvertently change each other’s futures.

Veronica and her wealthy husband George are unpacking boxes, hoping a fresh start in their newly refurbished Victorian terrace will help them heal from a recent trauma.