“[A] stellar debut. Precise, distinctive prose…and well-drawn characters make this satisfying tale all the more memorable. Expect Kemp to make a big splash.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Kemp writes with a careful restraint that makes the emotional explosions all the more powerful when they come.” —Kirkus (starred)
“Moody, suspenseful, and altogether absorbing.” —Booklist
“Breathtaking. Not one thing that happened was predictable, and yet everything was inevitable, and still, the ending astonished me. This is a beautifully human book, full of compassion for our foibles, tenderness for our pain, and generosity for every misguided, confusing, honest decision any of us have ever made.” —Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling author of Winter Sisters
“Extraordinary. Richly atmospheric and beautifully paced… I loved it.” —Jo Baker, author of Longbourne
“An engrossing, mysterious, tender and disquieting book, alive to the agony of private sorrow … a debut of real significance.” —Edmund Gordon, author of The Invention of Angela Carter
“Secrets and lies, despair and rebirth as a patriarch dies in rural France. An exquisitely-observed debut from a writer to watch.” —Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill
“With consummate skill and perfect pacing Kemp unveils surprising secrets and casts a direct and penetrating gaze on the ambiguous sexuality and the guilt that underlies our actions. An unusually accomplished first novel.” —Sheila Kohler, author Once We Were Sisters
