Summerwater: A Novel

A Best Book of the Year at The Guardian, The Times (London), and The Irish Times

“[Moss] writes beautifully about . . . souls in tumult, about people whose lives have not turned out the way they’d hoped . . . There’s little doubt, reading Moss, that you’re in the hands of a sophisticated and gifted writer.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

The acclaimed author of Ghost Wall offers a new, devastating, masterful novel of subtle menace.

They rarely speak to one another, but they do take notice—watching from the safety of the park’s rented cabins, peering into the half-lit drizzle of a Scottish summer day, forming judgments based on what little they know of their temporary neighbors. It is the longest day of the year, and as the hours pass nearly imperceptibly, twelve people shift from being strangers, to bystanders, to allies—their idle curiosity sparked into action as tragedy sneaks into their lives.

At daylight, a mother races up the mountain, fleeing into her precious hour of solitude. A retired man studies her return as he reminisces about the park’s better days. A young woman, weary of her attentive boyfriend, distracts herself with speculation about their neighbor’s politics. Alone in a kayak on the dark waters of the loch, a teenage boy escapes the infuriating scrutiny of his family. This cascade of perspectives runs through the community as each inhabitant begins to focus on one particular family that doesn’t belong. Nightfall brings an irrevocable turn.

From Sarah Moss, the acclaimed author of Ghost Wall—a “riveting” (Alyson Hagy, The New York Times Book Review), “sharp tale of suspense” (Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker)—Summerwater is a devastating, masterful novel of subtle menace, a searing exploration of our capacity for kinship and cruelty, and a gorgeous evocation of the natural world as it changes around us, bearing constant witness to our choices.