From 1960s Italy to present-day Ireland Ripeness is a haunting luminous tale of love grief
and the lifelong search for where we truly belong from Sarah Moss bestselling author of
Summerwater . 'Moss makes every moment count' - The Sunday Times 'The achievement of a
lifetime' - Jessie Burton 'A book of lasting pleasures' - Eleanor Catton 'A powerful and
beautifully written story of family friendship and identity' - Guardian Just out of school
and teetering on the brink of adulthood Edith is sent alone to rural Italy. Her task is
simple: support her sister Lydia a brilliant but brittle ballet dancer through the final
weeks of her pregnancy. Once the child is born she is to make a phone call that will change
all of their lives forever. Decades later Edith is living a contented life in Ireland
happily divorced and unexpectedly free. But when her friend Méabh receives a call from a
stranger claiming to be her brother everything shifts. As Méabh confronts a history she never
knew she had Edith is pulled back into the long-buried story of the baby she once held and
lost. 'Tender and rueful . . . Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence' - Emma
Donoghue author of Room 'One of our greatest living writers' - Katherine May author of
Wintering Praise for Sarah Moss: 'Throws much contemporary writing into the shade' - Hilary
Mantel 'One of our very best contemporary novelists' - Independent 'A brilliant mind' - The
Guardian 'Moss has quietly been putting out some of the most interesting and carefully
sculpted novels of recent years' - Financial Times 'One of the finest contemporary writers
working in Britain today' - Stylist 'Is Sarah Moss the best British writer never nominated for
the Booker?' - Daily Mail 'Nothing escapes her sly humour and brilliant touch' - Jessie Burton
'The most brilliant writer. She deserves to win all the prizes' - Joanna Trollope
