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

'The achievement of a lifetime' - Jessie Burton, author of The House of Fortune
'A book of lasting pleasures' - Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize-winning author of Birnam Wood
'A powerful and beautifully written story of family, friendship and identity' - 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 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 . Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence’ - Emma Donoghue, author of The Paris Express
‘One of our greatest living writers’ - Katherine May, author of Wintering

Praise for Sarah Moss:
‘Throws much contemporary writing into the shade’ Hilary Mantel
‘One of our very best contemporary novelists’ The Independent
‘A brilliant mind’ The Guardian
‘Moss has quietly been putting out some of the most interesting and carefully sculpted novels of recent years’ Financial Times
‘One of the finest contemporary writers working in Britain today’ Stylist
‘Is Sarah Moss the best British writer never nominated for the Booker?’ The Daily Mail
‘Nothing escapes her sly humour and brilliant touch’ Jessie Burton
‘The most brilliant writer. She deserves to win all the prizes’ Joanna Trollope Trollope