It's the 1950s, and Jean Swinney is a feature writer for a local paper in the London suburbs. On the brink of 40, caring for her demanding mother, Jean's prospects are looking rather grim, until Gretchen Tilbury contacts the paper, claiming that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. But as Jean investigates the bizarre story, her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) entangled with the Tilburys. In Clare Chambers's keenly observed novel, nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction, Jean cannot bring herself to discard what seems to be an unexpected chance at happiness, even as her story starts to send dark ripples across all their lives.

"Quietly affecting in unexpected ways. Chambers' language is beautiful, achieving what only the most skilled writers can: big pleasure wrought from small details."—NYTimes