A Novel

Set on the beautiful Swedish coast, this is a story of deep friendship and hope, about facing the worst parts of ourselves and stepping into a new future.

Inez is ready to clean out her life. Seventy years old and no longer working as a women’s fiction author, her life has been accumulating in piles around her Swedish cottage by the sea. But it’s not just the house that needs cleaning. Inez is also ready to write one last book—her first true one—about the oyster diver, her friend who disappeared so long ago.

Then Meja enters Inez’s life. Thirty-seven years old and hopelessly lost, Meja survives on the kindness of her disinterested boyfriend, a series of temp jobs, and bitterness over her mother’s constant disapproval. The second Inez sees her, she despises her. Meja seems just like the wispy women that Inez used to write about, except those women actually change.

But as summer heats up on the Swedish coast, and stark truths are revealed, Inez and Meja will find themselves transformed by an unexpected friendship. Will the mystery of the oyster diver tear it all apart? Or could their new friendship be the key to uncovering the mystery?