Shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish 2020 Fiction Prize One sweltering midsummer night, two young women forge an unlikely bond. One of them is full of hope and ambition, the other devoid of it. How can they lead good lives, they wonder? What will they give to the world? By the time the sun comes up, their futures have been rewritten and their fates decided. Captivating and involving, in turns joyful and desolate, this haunting mystery is an exploration of vicariousness, virtue and privilege.