A raw, powerful novel from the prize-winning author of Kokomo that exposes the ripple effect of grief and shows how quickly the life you thought you had can be shattered forever.

A year ago the house had been full of life, of noise, of love. Now there were long stretches of silence that settled between them like a fog so dense it made it hard to see a way out, made it hard for them to see each other . . . He was losing sight of the only thing he'd ever truly been certain about.

Some moments change everything. For five friends, what should have been a birthday to remember will instead cleave a line between before and after. From then on, the shockwaves of guilt, sorrow and disbelief will colour every day, every interaction, every possibility. Each will struggle. Each will ask why. Secrets will be kept. Lies will be told. Relationships reassessed. Each friend will be forever changed. And the question all of them will be forced to ask is: can they ever find a way to live without what was lost?