'Full of lovely writing, grand houses, snobbery, cruelty and passion, this compelling mystery-cum-love story . . . is utterly addictive . . . A brilliant debut.' Australian Women's Weekly

Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering Society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again.

Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time house-maid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge; something history has forgotten but Grace never could.

'... you may not intend to stay up until 3am, but there you are, turning the pages faster and faster, pretending the alarm clock isn't set for 7am.' Irish Times