Ripeness by Sarah Moss

Ripeness by Sarah Moss

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

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Summerwater, Sarah Moss.

'Moss makes every moment count' - The Sunday Times
'A book of lasting pleasures' - Eleanor Catton
'Powerful and beautifully written' - The 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 finally free. But with the arrival of an unexpected message, Edith must face the truth of that long-ago summer, and the secret she has carried for a lifetime.

‘Tender and rueful’ - Emma Donoghue
'A delicious novel' - Literary Review
'Sublime . . . glorious' - Vogue
'Luminous' - Financial Times
'Beautifully crafted . . . absorbing and moving' - Daily Mail

Sex and childbirth, emigrant and exile, the present and the past: Sarah Moss’s ambidextrous talent is evident on every page of this elegant novelIt is intelligent, but never disembodied; evocative, but never sentimental; honest, but never cruel. Ripeness is a book of tart and lasting pleasures. -- Eleanor Catton, Booker prize-winning author of The Luminaries and Birnam Wood
This book felt to me like I was reading the achievement of a lifetime, written by one of the best writers alive. Moving, unexpected, masterful, it is a story of stories, of belonging, of exits and entrances, and everything in between. Moss’s understanding of who her characters are is also her understanding of all of us. A beautiful, powerful read that echoed for me long after. -- Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
Tender and rueful, Ripeness is a tale of being a foreigner that moves between 1960s Italy and 2020s Ireland, finding pain and bliss in both. Working at the height of her mature powers, Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence. -- Emma Donoghue, author of Room
Sarah Moss is one of the best writers working today, and this might be her best book yet. A wise and tender novel about birth, ballet and belonging, it captivated me completely -- Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg

Sarah Moss has written several novels including the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Summerwater, and Ghost Wall, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has also written a memoir, My Good Bright Wolf - awarded Scotland's Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Saltire's - and Names for the Sea, which is an account of her year living in Iceland. She was born in Glasgow and grew up in the north of England. After moving between Oxford, Canterbury, Reykjavik, west Cornwall and the English Midlands, she now lives in Dublin.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781529035490
ISBN 10	152903549X
Title	Ripeness
Author	Sarah Moss
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pan Macmillan
Year published	2025-05-22
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.