A TIMES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR

'So great I am struggling to find the words to do it justice' Marian Keyes

'Radical... I really recommend it' Pandora Sykes

'Riveting' Elizabeth Day

'A perfect, funny, insightful, novel about women, friendship, and ageing' Nina Stibbe

'A lovely, lively, intelligent, funny book' Tessa Hadley

'One sharp, funny, heartbreaking and gorgeously-written package' Paula Hawkins

'A rare pleasure... As with the novels of Elizabeth Strout or Anne Tyler, these are characters not written to please, but to feel true' The Sunday Times

'Glorious... Wood joins the ranks of writers such as Nora Ephron, Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Strout' Guardian

Sylvie, Jude, Wendy and Adele have a lifelong friendship of the best kind: loving, practical, frank and steadfast. But when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three.

These women couldn't be more different: Jude, a once-famous restaurateur with a spotless life and a long-standing affair with a married man; Wendy, an acclaimed feminist intellectual; Adele, a former star of the stage, now practically homeless.

Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather for one last weekend at Sylvie's old beach house. But fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that brings long-buried hurts to the surface - a storm that will either remind them of the bond they share, or sweep away their friendship for good.