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Margaret is 10 years old. She has a best friend named Biddy, spends her summer days playing with her friends and her brother, while hiding secrets that threaten to tear the family apart. Her father has had an affair, causing her mother to spiral at times, but another secret is one that she must keep to herself in the hopes of simply surviving her childhood.

Now 35, with two daughters, she returns with them to her childhood home. Her marriage has ended, and she is seeing someone new. She must begin to reckon with what happened years ago, let go of the past, and move forward as a woman and a mother.

Love and secrets are burdens that can weigh us down, and when those secrets come from trauma, the weight can seem insurmountable. This dysfunctional family story is intense, dark, and unsettling, but well worth it. The character development is masterful, as the complexities many women face today are put on center stage. A story like this could quickly feel overdramatic or exaggerated, but Honor Jones writes this in a way that feels very true to life, complicated without feeling overblown.