Days of light

Hunter's beautiful latest (after The End We Start From) captures a woman's life in snapshots from six days across six decades. The novel begins on a fateful Easter Sunday in 1938, when 19-year-old Ivy enjoys an evening of dancing with her family and guests, including her parents' friend Bear and her brother Joseph's new girlfriend, Frances. As the party winds down, the siblings head to the river for their first swim of the season. While in the cold water, Ivy spots a large swell of light dancing through the sky and is so absorbed in watching it that she doesn't see Joseph disappear. A few weeks later, the family holds a funeral for Joseph despite never having found his body. With emotions running high, Ivy and Bear have clandestine sex during the funeral. On the third day, in 1944, Ivy and Bear are married with two small children, and a blissful afternoon shared with Frances and her child turns into a terrible war-torn night when Ivy's childhood home is bombed. Spinning an intricate narrative web, Hunter reveals how the characters' actions have lasting consequences, and she ties the story together with Ivy's lingering questions about Joseph's fate, which lead her to seek answers from psychics, seances, and the church. Readers will be rapt. Agent: Emma Paterson, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (June)

Six critical days spread across 60 years in the life of a privileged British woman reveal her lifelong search for herself. In 1938 at age 19, Ivy drifts through life without purpose, supported by her wealthy family. She dabbles in the arts but can't commit to anything. When her brother drowns, Ivy is devastated. She tries but fails to die by suicide, then marries a much older family friend. While raising her children during World War II, Ivy begins a secret affair with her brother's former girlfriend, Frances. After the war, Ivy's husband, Bear, takes a job in Scotland, unwittingly severing Ivy's ties with Frances. When Bear dies, Ivy tries to reconnect with Frances. Finding that is not an option, she turns to religion and joins a convent. She seems to have found the peace and joy she has been seeking, but then an unexpected encounter with Frances, now free of husband and children, propels Ivy into a new life. Hunter (The End Where We Start From, which was adapted into a film starring Jodie Comer) writes a love story dense with description and details of the inner workings of Ivy's mind. There is little dialogue in this novel that spans decades. VERDICT A delicious story about love, family, change and self-awareness, to be consumed slowly.--Joanna M. Burkhardt