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We crossed a bridge to enter Fripp Island, a luscious, jungled little thumbprint of land that contains every shade of green you could imagine, from almost-yellow to almost-black.

We had to stop the car because an alligator was in the road before us. It was the first alligator I had ever seen and much uglier than I would have expected, its hide dull, dark, and textured, as warty as a toad.

Several days later, I was dead.

The House on Fripp Island Rebecca Kauffman

Two families on holiday and everyone’s hiding something – this is a book you’ll need to talk about

The Dalys invite the Fords for a week at a luxurious house just off the coast of South Carolina. The mothers are childhood friends who’ve ended up in very different places. One family is wealthy, one isn’t. One family is happy, one isn’t. Everyone is up to something, but no one has quite guessed what the others are doing.

While revelations from the past and present unfold, the book builds to a shocking event that will shake your sense of justice and leave you wanting to talk about crime and retribution. It’s a great book to pass on to a friend, but please don’t tell them too much. If you can’t wait, get in touch with us …

Praise for Rebecca Kauffman:

‘Kauffman so convincingly renders the affection between them that you accept each character’s foibles as readily as they do one another’s ... there’s so much generosity and spirit and humour.’ The New York Times

Rebecca Kauffman is originally from rural Ohio. She studied Classical Violin Performance at the Manhattan School of Music before receiving an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU. Her previous novels are Another Place You’ve Never Been and The Gunners. She currently lives in Virginia. Fiction £12.99 Demy hardback ISBN: 978 1 78816 520 4 288pp eISBN: 978 1 78283 702 2 June 2020 UK Com ex Can

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