Content Warning: This novel contains descriptions of emotional abuse, death by suicide, and stigmatizing and potentially offensive language and stereotypes regarding people with mental health conditions. Its contents are reflected in this study guide.

Sneaking out of her home to her vehicle, Joanne Atkinson pleads quietly with her four-month-old daughter, Evie, not to wake up and cry. Joanne is so terrified that she shakes as she tries to start the vehicle. She glances back at the house, and a light comes on in the nursery window. A girl in the window slams her palms against the glass as a fire starts behind her. Joanne makes eye contact with her, then speeds away.

Three weeks earlier, Joanne is alone in the large house with her labrador, Oscar, and Evie. Her husband, Richard Atkinson, is protective of them, though Joanne thinks their large countryside home in a sleepy English village is perfectly safe. Evie doesn’t sleep well, however, so Joanne is always tired and unkempt.

A handwritten letter addressed to Richard arrives in the mail. Joanne suspects it’s from his ex-fiancée and is tempted to open the letter, but the arrival of Roxanne, the housekeeper interrupts her.