‘[a] beautifully written novel that brims with art, beauty, love, family, passion and secrets’ – Books+Publishing

Two summers, decades apart. Two women whose lives are forever entwined. And a house that holds the secrets that could free them both.

At twenty-six, Lillian feels ancient and exhausted. Her marriage to Charles Oberon has not turned out the way she thought it would. To her it seems she is just another beautiful object captured within the walls of Cloudesley, her husband’s Chilterns manor house. But, with a young step-son and a sister to care for, Lillian accepts there is no way out for her. Then Charles makes an arrangement with an enigmatic artist visiting their home and her world is turned on its head.

Maggie Oberon ran from the hurt and resentment she caused. Half a world away, in Australia, it was easier to forget, to pretend she didn’t care. But when her grandmother, Lillian, falls ill she must head back to Cloudesley. Forced to face her past, she will learn that all she thought was real, all that she held so close, was never as it seemed.

An utterly compelling story of secrets, betrayals and the consequences of a long-ago summer from the internationally bestselling author of Secrets of the Tides and The Shadow Year.

The Shadow Year shows [Richell] developing the storytelling skills that made her first book stand out from the crowd of commercial women’s fiction. – Sydney Morning Herald

Set against the ebb and flow of the ever-present sea this complex family drama [Secrets of the Tides] is a page-turner of a debut novel. – Australian Women’s Weekly

Assuredly written and impeccably structured, [Secrets of the Tides] excavates the emotional layers of family drama when something goes terribly wrong… – Sydney Morning Herald

This cracking debut novel [Secrets of the Tides] will have you turning the pages so fast you’ll get a paper cut. – Sun-Herald

A tale of secrets, lies, betrayal and infidelity [Secrets of the Tides]. It’s also about a loss that strikes at the heart of a family; one that time will mellow but never completely heal. Heartbreakingly good. – Herald Sun