The Ophelia Girls

In the summer of 1973, Ruth and her four friends spend their days absorbed in pre-Raphaelite paintings and, to a degree, in each other. The cold river beside Ruth's house draws them, and they stage tableaus in which each girl plays the drowning Ophelia. The scenes grow more elaborate as the weeks pass. By the end of the summer, a real tragedy has taken place on the riverbank.

Twenty-four years later, Ruth moves back to the large, stifling house where she grew up. She is now the mother of young twins and of seventeen-year-old Maeve. Stuart, a friend from Ruth's childhood, joins the household in the country. He works his way quietly into the family's routines and gives Maeve the attention she wants.

Maeve is newly in remission from cancer and unsure where she fits now that she is well. Her parents want her to behave like any other teenager, a wish that sits awkwardly with how she feels.

The novel alternates between the two summers, 1973 and 1997, so a mother's hidden past and her daughter's present unfold side by side. It is a suspense novel with a literary, atmospheric feel. Its subjects include the bond between mothers and daughters, forbidden desire, and the risks and strength of growing up female.