House for Alice, A by Diana Evans; 2023. Hardcover.

Alice wants to go home to die. Her three daughters are divided on whether she stays or goes, and tasked with realising her dream of a house in Nigeria, conflict stirs and old wounds surface. Meanwhile their father wanders the flames of purgatory, unable to pass into the light. Will Alice get back home and complete the circle of her life, or will London be her final refuge?

Melissa, to her mother's regret, is long separated from Michael who has moved on to new love. Yet he still wonders if he will ever know anyone the way he knew Melissa, and she in turn is nostalgic for their once safe haven. Held together by their two children, it becomes clear that their own circle isn't quite broken.

Set against the shadows of Grenfell and a country in crisis, these ordinary people are faced with fundamental questions about who they are, what they want and where, and with whom, they want to be.