Description

From 1960s Italy to present-day Ireland, Ripeness is the story of a family secret that rips a teenage girl’s world apart, only for her to discover its true meaning decades later.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Summerwater, Sarah Moss.

‘Moss makes every moment count’ – The Sunday Times
‘A book of lasting pleasures’ – Eleanor Catton
‘Powerful and beautifully written’ – The Guardian

Just 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 finally free. But with the arrival of an unexpected message, Edith must face the truth of that long-ago summer, and the secret she has carried for a lifetime.

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

Publisher Review

Tender and rueful, RIPENESS is a tale of being a foreigner that moves between 1960s Italy and 2020s Ireland, finding pain and bliss in both. Working at the height of her mature powers, Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence. — Emma Donoghue, author of Room