The Unwilding
‘Compelling and fine and rich, I devoured it’ TESSA HADLEY
‘Powerfully compelling’ GUARDIAN
‘Unbelievably good’ ELIZABETH DAY, on Instagram
‘Complex and nuanced… the perfect definition of summer reading’ LUCY CALDWELL
‘Subtle, complex, ambitious’THE TIMES
A stunning new novel of power, desire and the secrets all families carry, from the acclaimed author of Nightingale, Marina Kemp.
When fledgling writer Zoe arrives at the Sicilian holiday home of famed novelist Don Travers, she feels that she has made it. And yet as the week unfolds it is not Don but his children and unknowable wife, Lydia, who come to intrigue Zoe most. On the fringes, Don’s youngest, Nemony, watches as her older siblings begin to navigate the treacherous waters of the adult world. When her adored oldest sister makes a terrible mistake, the holiday ends suddenly, shattering the fragile balance of their parents’ marriage and the siblings’ lives.
Many years later and in the wake of loss, the events of that summer continue to haunt. Nemony, now a lonely new mother herself, strikes up a chance friendship with Zoe. With her support, Nemony attempts to grapple with the casual damage enacted by her father. But as their relationship deepens, she is soon forced to question the true extent of Zoe’s fascination with the Travers family.
Tracing their lives through Sicily, London and the old mining towns of Appalachia, Nemony must uncover the stories untold – about her implacable father, her troubled mother, and the siblings she might still do anything for.
‘Exquisitely written, subtle and transporting’ SUSSIE ANIE, author of To Fill a Yellow House
‘Ambitious, immersive’ OLIVIA SUDJIC, author of Sympathy
‘Unflinching, magnificent’ KAREN POWELL, author of Fifteen Wild Decembers
‘A writer to watch’ FRANCIS SPUFFORD
”'Compelling and fine and rich, I devoured it. A writer with great range” - Tessa Hadley, author of After the Funeral
'[A] powerfully compelling dissection of the creative process' Guardian -
”'Subtle, complex and ambitious…recalls McEwan’s Atonement” - The Times
”'Exquisitely written, subtle and transporting, The Unwilding is an absorbing exploration of family ties, memory, connection and the power of stories themselves. A beautiful and thought-provoking novel” - Sussie Anie, author of To Fill A Yellow House
‘A sophisticated, emotionally complex novel about loyalty and betrayal, innocence and experience, memory and art. The Unwilding explores its characters’ blind spots and vulnerabilities with intelligence and compassion. I was gripped’ Edmund Gordon, author of The Invention of Angela Carter -
”'Ambitious, immersive…Kemp renders the danger inherent in what we desire with perceptive elegance, drawing out the tensions between child and adult worldviews, and the vulnerabilities of both. What an achievement” - Olivia Sudjic, author of Sympathy
”'Complex and nuanced…Written with consummate poise - I just drank it down, over the course of a day in a deckchair, the perfect definition of summer reading. I adored it” - Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days
”'At the Sicilian holiday house of a famous writer … the youngest daughter watches from the sidelines and many years later is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about her family” - The Times, 'The best books of 2024’
”'[An] acutely observed study of family, generational wounds and gender roles … Unflinching, magnificent” - Karen Powell, author of Fifteen Wild Decembers
”'Tense and atmospheric and beautifully written - this is a compelling portrait of a family struggling to confront dark truths, and two women daring to find their voice” - Rosie Price, author of What Red Was