Some fears should be ignored. Others can’t be.

Lara has spent years trying to outrun her past, and experience has taught her to recognise danger. So when she becomes convinced her sister Hannah’s life is at risk, she knows she can’t ignore it. The sisters are about to reunite at a remote cottage for their mother’s fiftieth birthday, and Lara is certain something terrible is coming.

But Lara’s deepening anxieties only reawaken old tensions. With her young daughter watching on, she must navigate a maze of past trauma and doubts. And when relationships between the cottage guests begin to unravel, the sisters discover that some threats are all too real.

As autumn leaves fall and shadows lengthen, the line between protection and destruction begins to blur. Can Lara save her sister without destroying everything—and everyone—she loves?

Born in Washington DC and raised in Derbyshire and Oxfordshire in the UK, Claire studied at Cambridge University and LSE before working for many years as an economist. The quiet of lockdown provided an opportunity to rekindle her passion for creative writing. This is her second novel. Her first, The Surfacing, was published in 2025.

When not cold-water swimming or planning her next overseas adventure, Claire is partial to lots of coffee and a good cryptic crossword. She lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and two children.