SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024LONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE 2025An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge - for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan''s Atonement.It is fifteen years after the Second World War, and Isabel has built herself a solitary life of discipline and strict routine in her late mother''s country home, with not a fork or a word out of place. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel''s doorstep - as a guest, there to stay for the season…In the sweltering heat of summer, Isabel''s desperate need for control reaches boiling point. What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known.''A thrilling, razor-sharp, perfectly plotted debut novel'' Sunday Times''Moving, unnerving and deeply sexy'' Tracy Chevalier, bestselling author of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING''A brave and thrilling debut about facing up to the truth of history, and to one''s own desires… Van der Wouden brings stunning power and control to her page-turner about trauma and repression'' Justine Jordan, Booker Prize Judge 2024