Two parents stand by powerlessly as their only child seems intent on destroying herself. Meanwhile the mother – a novelist – attempts to understand her uneasy, unresolved relationship with her own mother. Weaving between childhoods past and present, as well as a current narrative laced with temptation and betrayal, this is the delicate journey of a mother, daughter, wife and author struggling to make sense of her world.

But can a writer ever be trusted with the truth of her own story? Clear-eyed, self-lacerating and at times frighteningly direct, Julie Myerson’s latest novel explores maternal love as the emotional foundation we both crave and fear. A howl of fury, as well as a moving love letter from a mother to a daughter, this is a book about damage, addiction, recovery and creativity.