Journalist Charlotte Edwardes's debut novel unfolds during the scorching summer of 1976 on a remote West Country farm, where nine-year-old Frank arrives with his two younger siblings to stay with their Aunt Perry whilst their mother battles mental illness and their father serves abroad in the navy. The narrative employs a first-person child perspective that merges immediate, visceral observation with the reflective distance of an adult recounting formative experiences, creating an authentic voice that engages readers from the opening pages.

The novel portrays two parallel households united by parental absence and emotional deprivation, where both mothers subscribe to a philosophy of "toughening up" children rather than meeting fundamental physical and emotional needs—encompassing food scarcity, poor sanitation, and systematic cruelty. Frank becomes a reluctant caregiver for his siblings whilst navigating an environment where his cousins, themselves products of similar neglect, direct their damage toward vulnerable targets. The review highlights Edwardes's skill in capturing the psychological complexity of these damaged family dynamics and the enduring wounds of childhood neglect, with the novel's deliberate pacing reflecting the suffocating stagnation of children trapped through a relentless summer without meaningful reprieve.