Shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award

‘A therapeutic dose of high-strength emotion’ GUARDIAN

Augusta Hope has never felt like she fits in.

At six, she’s memorising the dictionary. At seven, she’s correcting her teachers. At eight, she spins the globe and picks her favourite country on the sound of its name: Burundi.

And now that she's an adult, Augusta has no interest in the goings-on of the small town where she lives with her parents and her beloved twin sister, Julia.

When an unspeakable tragedy upends everything in Augusta's life, she's propelled headfirst into the unknown. She's determined to find where she belongs – but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away?

‘It’s going to be all over every book club in Britain before you can say Burundi’ THE TIMES

‘Full of the reality of hope and despair in everyone’s lives’ MIRANDA HART

‘This gem of a novel entertains and moves in equal measure’ DAILY MAIL

‘Keep the tissues close’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

‘An irresistible message of redemption and belonging’ RED magazine

‘Heartening and hopeful’ JESS KIDD, author of Things in Jars

‘Mesmerizingly beautiful’ SARAH HAYWOOD, author of The Cactus

‘An extraordinary masterpiece’ ANSTEY HARRIS, author of The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton

‘Gutsy, endearing and entertaining’ DEBORAH ORR

‘Absolutely brilliant’ GAVIN EXTENCE, author of The Universe Versus Alex Wood