Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her former professor, Patrick is much older than J.B. But when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and J.B. is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his. For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. There is nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits and Patrick falls off the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins.

In the tradition of The Hours and Revolutionary Road comes a "beautifully written and atmospheric" (Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites) novel set in the 1960s about marriage, motherhood, identity, nostalgia, and the fantasy of home.In Cambridge, in 1963, Charlotte struggles to reconnect with the woman she was before children, and to find the time and energy to paint. Her husband, Henry, cannot face the thought of another English winter. A brochure slipped through the mailbox gives him the answer: "Australia brings out the best in you." Charlotte is too worn out to resist, and before she knows it is travelling to the other side of the world. But upon their arrival in Perth, the southern sun shines a harsh light on the couple and slowly reveals that their new life is not the answer either was hoping for. Charlotte barely recognizes herself in this place where she is no longer a promising young artist, but instead a bored suburban housewife,...