End of Summer
'An enthralling, layered triumph' SUNDAY TIMES, Thriller of the Month
'A richly enjoyable thriller' THE TIMES, Thriller of the Year
'An elegant, provocative, twisting thriller… hugely entertaining and beautifully written' CHRIS WHITAKER
'So brilliant I stayed up into the early hours to finish it' PRIMA, Book of the Month
Your mother is not who you think she is…
When the phone rings in Judy McVee’s Languedoc farmhouse, she knows her past has finally caught up with her. It’s her daughter, frantically asking why there are journalists on her London doorstep making terrible accusations.
Decades earlier, Judy was a girl with big plans – to ensnare a rich husband, to make something of herself, to rise above her upbringing and leave behind past tragedies. Wealthy young widower Rory Harrington seemed the perfect target – but Judy hadn’t reckoned on actually falling in love with him.
Now her daughter Francesca, who has secrets of her own, must come to terms with the realisation that the mother she thought she knew wasn’t real. Where has Judy gone – and was anything she told her family true?
Moving from Cape Cod to London, New York to the South of France, THE END OF SUMMER is a gripping, nuanced literary thriller from a writer at the top of her game.
Charlotte Philby worked for the Independent for eight years as a columnist, editor and reporter, and was shortlisted for the Cudlipp Prize for her investigative journalism at the 2013 Press Awards. A former contributing editor and feature writer at Marie Claire, she has written for publications including the New Statesman, Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Elle, Tatler, Inside Time, and has been a guest on shows ranging from NPR’s Note to Self podcast to BBC Radio 4 Front Row. This is her fifth novel.