Summerwater

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller, longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2021

From the acclaimed author of Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss' Summerwater is a devastating story told over twenty-four hours in the Scottish highlands . . .

'Superb' - The Times
'Sharp, searching . . . utterly of the moment' - Hilary Mantel
'So accomplished' - Guardian

It is the summer solstice, but in a faded Scottish cabin park the rain is unrelenting. Twelve people on holiday with their families look on as the skies remain resolutely grey. A woman goes running up the Ben as if fleeing; a teenage boy chances the dark waters of the loch in his kayak; a retired couple head out despite the downpour, driving too fast on the familiar bends.

But there are newcomers too, and one particular family, a mother and daughter with the wrong clothes and the wrong manners, start to draw the attention of the others. Who are they? Where are they from? Should they be here at all? As darkness finally falls, something is unravelling . . .

'A masterpiece' - Jessie Burton
'One of her best' - Irish Times
'Beautifully written, intense, powerful' - David Nicholls



Genre: Literary Fiction

"Nothing escapes her sly humour and brilliant touch. Deft and brimming with life, Summerwater is a novel of endless depth. A masterpiece." - Jessie Burton

"Summerwater is a beautiful book, written with delicacy and grace, yet with an undertow as dark as the Scottish loch by which its characters are holidaying in ignorance of the tragedy to come. If you are a huge fan of Moss's work, as I am, you will find yourself parceling it out, to read a chapter a day, like a gift." - Louise Doughty

"Sharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, utterly of the moment . . . it throws much contemporary writing into the shade." - Hilary Mantel

"With delicate precision, Summerwater takes the moral and emotional temperature of a whole society. It is matchless, too, in its blending of steely insight with humour and compassion." - Pankaj Mishra

"Summerwater is a triumph and confirms Sarah Moss as one of the best writers in Britain today." - Fiona Mozley

"Moss is the most brilliant writer. She deserves to win all the prizes." - Joanna Trollope