Anna has lived alone for decades. She is cocooned by, and marooned in, an isolated cottage called Nant yr Aur in the Welsh mountains. The arrival of Sion, a young man who seems strangely at home in the house, leads to an unpicking of Anna's past. As Anna's relationship with Sion develops - to the point where he feels comfortable showering at Nant yr Aur - her perspective on the solidity of her past shifts. Uncertainty, distortion, illusion and subtle betrayal are gradually exposed. Ultimately, a quietly devastating revelation changes the lives of both Sion and Anna. Sian Northey writes with economy and precision, setting out what the life of a middle-aged woman with an emotionally complicated past feels like from the inside.

Anna has lived alone for decades. She is cocooned by, and marooned in, an isolated cottage called Nant yr Aur in the Welsh mountains. The arrival of Sion, a young man who seems strangely at home in the house, leads to an unpicking of Anna's past. As Anna's relationship with Sion develops - to the point where he feels comfortable showering at Nant yr Aur - her perspective on the solidity of her past shifts. Uncertainty, distortion, illusion and subtle betrayal are gradually exposed. Ultimately, a quietly devastating revelation changes the lives of both Sion and Anna. Sian Northey writes with economy and precision, setting out what the life of a middle-aged woman with an emotionally complicated past feels like from the inside.

Anna has lived alone for decades. She is cocooned by, and marooned in, an isolated cottage called Nant yr Aur in the Welsh mountains. The arrival of Sion, a young man who seems strangely at home in the house, leads to an unpicking of Anna's past. As Anna's relationship with Sion develops - to the point where he feels comfortable showering at Nant yr Aur - her perspective on the solidity of her past shifts. Uncertainty, distortion, illusion and subtle betrayal are gradually exposed. Ultimately, a quietly devastating revelation changes the lives of both Sion and Anna. Sian Northey writes with economy and precision, setting out what the life of a middle-aged woman with an emotionally complicated past feels like from the inside.