We Are Together Because: A novel of siblings, sex and the end of the world

(Hardback, Main)

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Description

Luke, Connor, Thea and Violet spend their first holiday together alone in their father's house in France. The boys don't really know him - he left their mother when she was still pregnant with Connor, getting together with the girls' mother soon afterwards - and they don't really know their half-sisters, either. Luke, the eldest and most easy going of the four, is keen to bring a new shape to their overlapping, unconventional family; Connor and Thea, born just six months apart but a world of difference between them, are attracted to each other, something they try not to acknowledge but which keeps pushing its way to the surface; Violet, the youngest, is trying to figure some things out about herself, and trying desperately to forget others.

Sex, in its multiple pleasurable divergences and forms, disturbances and abuses, is on the minds of all of the siblings during the hot, lethargic summer days next to the pool. Meanwhile the land is responding and reacting to something inexplicable and eerie. There is a sound, a strong buzzing tonal undercurrent that only Connor can hear, and when Violet one night sees a plane light abruptly drop and disappear in the night sky, it signals the unsettling beginning of something that threatens so much more than their turbulent holiday...

Reviews

Andrew makes fine writing look effortless. This rich, mysterious novel glows with intelligence, poetry and heart. I loved it * Sarah Waters, author of The Paying Guests *
A writer of frankly alarming talent * Robert Macfarlane *
Kerry Andrew is that rare thing: a natural storyteller * Patrick Gale *
Tense and tender in equal measure, I was gripped by this holiday that becomes both a trap and an escape, by turns hellish and heavenly, but pure pleasure to read * Zoe Gilbert, author of Mischief Acts *
Utterly bewitching, this is a novel that will work its way into your dreams long after you've finished it * Anna Bailey, author of Sunday Times-bestselling Tall Bones *

Author Bio

Kerry Andrew is a London-based musician and author. They are the acclaimed author of Swansong (2018) and Skin (2021), and their short fiction has been shortlisted twice for BBC National Short Story Award and has been performed on BBC Radio Four. They are also the winner of four British Composer Awards.