Taut, atmospheric … This is a transporting piece of 1970s gothic with a viscous sensory pull, its observations of class, behaviour, dress and coded language resonant. As the heatwave summer blooms, then rots, Edwardes ramps up the sense of incipient dread … After such a striking, assured start, it is intriguing to wonder what she could do next

The Times

A haunting debut … the novel's engines thrum from the first page … Like the building of a thunderstorm through a sultry day … The joy here is that of good writing

Sarah Moss, Guardian, Book of the Day

Moving and captivating ... Edwardes writes the toughness of toxic families with great tenderness. This is a powerful evocation of childhood and the treachery of the adults who are meant to protect them

IRISH TIMES

I've read no better novel in years. It's intimate and enormous, of its time and timeless, in the way great novels are. I think it has the makings of a classic

Samantha Harvey, author of the Booker Prize-winning Orbital

Crisply told, shot through with slow-burn menace, it's a period novel that avoids nostalgia to be clear-eyed about cruelty and heartache

Daily Mail

A really skillful storyteller ... Shades of early Ian McEwan ... Very well-written ... This is really capturing something

BBC Radio 4 Front Row