Thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this brilliant novel of girlhood and motherhood that's low on plot but big on vibes.

Struggling mum Ruth is back at her childhood home remembering the summer she was 17 that her friends spent photographing each other as Ophelia until things take a tragic turn. Meanwhile Ruth's 17 year old daughter is recovering from leukaemia and excited to be receiving attention from a handsome friend of Ruth's whose keen to photograph her as Ophelia.

This book made me nostalgic for a teenage summer I never even had, and furious about all the experiences I did have fending off the advances of men decades older. It reminded me of The Souvenir and My Dark Vanessa in its exploration of the vulnerable naivety of teenage girls desperate to feel grown up, and I thought it was a great depiction of trauma and grief.

I think this won't be for everyone, but if you like a slow burner and novels about women's interiority, or if like me you have a lot of feelings about Pre-Raphaelite art or teenage queerness, I'd recommend checking out The Ophelia Girls.