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WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE 2021

‘Her strongest yet… a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience’ THE TIMES

‘The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart’ ELIZABETH DAY, author of Magpie

‘Dark, brilliantly observed and ultimately a tale of love winning the day.’ THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

When you live on the edge of society, it only takes one step to fall between the cracks

Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.

But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother’s secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake.

Unsettled Ground is a powerful novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness.

‘A relevant and powerful exploration of isolation and life on the fringes of society’ CLARE MACKINTOSH, author of Hostage

‘An atmospheric thriller that’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming’ RED

Publisher Review

A gorgeously written celebration of the natural world as well as a moving portrait of a family struggling against time. Through buried secrets and private longings, the Seeders emerge as multi-layered characters living at the fringes of society. This book is ultimately about redemption-about the unexpected importance of neighbors, lovers, and friends, and the ways in which we can re-envision our lives for the better, even after the unimaginable has occurred * Lucy Tan * Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense * Sunday Times on Swimming Lessons * Extraordinary, gripping. Fuller writes with a singing simplicity that finds beauty amid the terror * The Sunday Times on Our Endless Numbered Days * A story suffused with the poignancy of miscommunication between people who love each other, of the things we can never really know * Guardian on Swimming Lessons * I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't reading a forgotten classic * Emma Healey on Bitter Orange * Bewitching, otherworldly, full of dark foreboding. Claire Fuller is a dazzling storyteller * Scotsman, on Bitter Orange * So sharply, so utterly brilliant that I found myself holding my breath while reading it, dazzled by Fuller's mastery and precision. Not since Flaubert's A Simple Heart have I encountered a narrative that shows, with such clear and patient fury, how breathtaking vulnerability can come from poverty, pride, and helpless family love * Lauren Groff, author of 'Fates and Furies' * A gorgeously written celebration of the natural world as well as a moving portrait of a family struggling against time. This book is ultimately about redemption-about the unexpected importance of neighbors, lovers, and friends, and the ways in which we can re-envision our lives for the better, even after the unimaginable has occurred * Lucy Tan *