Summer
“A deeply felt parable about children who fall outside the social net.” – The Guardian
When Grace Hooper, on the verge of womanhood, and her nine-year-old brother Billy are left orphaned by a freak accident at the beginning of a long, hot summer, they find themselves cast adrift from their old life and numb with grief. Sent to stay with their estranged grandfather on the remote farm where their mother grew up, there they must try and uncover a new understanding of the world and their place in it. But in the relentless heat and the unnatural calm of the near-deserted farm, nature itself soon becomes both enemy and ally-and as the bond between brother and sister disintegrates, Grace discovers that the farm hosts a tragic past and an uncertain future. At once disturbing and compelling, Summer is a deeply atmospheric exploration of grief, loss, death, and regeneration.
“Exact and compellingly sensuous prose.” – The Sunday Times
“Darling has a wonderful way with words. . . strong scenes and sumptuous writing.”- Books Ireland
“A quietly haunting account of the disintegration of family life through a prism of confinement in nature. . . It comes recommended.” – The Sunday Business Post Ireland