Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown for New York as soon as they could. Jim, a successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, something that Bob, a legal aid attorney who idolises Jim, has always taken in his stride.

 

But when their sister desperately calls them back home to Shirley Falls to help her teenage son out of trouble, long-buried tensions begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

A stunning story about the tragedies and triumphs of two brothers, from the bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge. Exploring the ties that bind us to family and home, this novel will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page.

 

‘Astonishingly good’ Evening Standard

'So good it gave me goosebumps’ Sunday Times

‘Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force’ The New Yorker  

'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own' Hilary Mantel