Ripeness

Author: Sarah Moss

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 22 May 2025 by PAN MACMILLAN (Picador) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 304 pages
162 x 245 x 30mm | 502g

In 1960s Italy, a family secret rips a teenage girl's world apart, only for her to discover its true meaning decades later.

'Moss makes every moment count' - The Sunday Times'A book of lasting pleasures' - Eleanor Catton'Powerful and beautifully written' - The GuardianJust 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 baby 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 an email from a stranger claiming to be her brother, everything shifts. As Méabh confronts a history she never knew she had, Edith must finally face the truth of that long-ago summer, and the secret she has carried for a lifetime.

‘Tender and rueful’ - Emma Donoghue'A deliciou's novel' - Literary Review'Sublime . . . glorious' - Vogue'Luminous' - Financial Times'Beautifully crafted . . . absorbing and moving' - Daily Mail