A perceptive moving exploration of guilt grief and complicity Sunday ExpressBoyne does not put a foot wrong in this masterly novella Mail on SundayAn intriguing investigation of contemporary trauma... a short but powerful book GuardianHis quietest novel... but one just as powerful as his larger canvases Business PostFrom millioncopybestselling author John Boyne comes a masterfully reflective story about one woman coming to terms with the demons of her past and finding a new path forward.The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals she is Willow Hale a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage not a notorious woman on the run from her past.But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her exhusband is really the monster everyone says he is then how complicit was she in his crimesEscaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here on the island Vanessa must reflect on what she did and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.Can you ever truly wash away your pastWhat readers are sayingA scorching devastating talePowerful challenging and beautifully writtenCompelling propulsive and completely immersiveWritten with the same emotional intensity and thought provoking honesty as his longer works