A perfect family masks the darkest of secrets in this emotional, compelling novel about lies, loyalty – and how the past can hold us captive. That was then... For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. Escaping the city the moment the school holidays started, the two families would gather at their holiday home on Lake Waseka: a magical haven, where everyday problems drifted away in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything. This is now... After a drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up for good. Torn apart, none of the Hempsteads speak of what happened that summer. Just one woman is determined to draw her family together again. But she knows that the only way that can happen is to face the truth. And to do that, they must return to the lake house.