Published: 15/06/2023
ISBN:9781914148262
Price: £8.99
Format: Paperback
On a windswept island off Cape Cod, Delilah moves into a cottage by the shore. After growing up in precarious circumstances with her Abuela, both of them hiding a terrible secret, all Delilah wants now is a place of her own – and she’s paid a high price for it.
The neighbours watch the newcomer and wonder about her. They don’t like it when she plants a wild and colourful garden in the front yard, and they like the visits from her married lover even less. Meanwhile, her new cottage shares a driveway with the reclusive Anton, who has a secret of his own. When the two meet, sparks fly – but will the past catch up with them?
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‘In Becoming Delilah, Sara Marchant immerses the reader in Delilah’s world with meticulous attention to detail and thoughtful prose, skillfully weaving past and present into a rich and moving story of identity’ — Elizabeth Crane, author of This Story Will Change
‘A serene and sensuous novel of love, trauma, and redemption. Marchant’s prose is as measured and lush as a summer garden’ — Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel
‘A small and delicate novel of secret lives on a small island’ — Michael Scott Moore, author of bestselling The Desert and the Sea
‘Sara Marchant’s haunting novel, Becoming Delilah, excavates without sentimentality the things women must do to survive in a world where “men make the rules” and women must learn to “bend them,” forever with the knowledge that some rules – some men – will not bend but rather break things, break people. Dolores and Abuela are unforgettable characters caught up in the age-old struggle to outrun intergenerational trauma and a past that will not be quelled’ — Gina Frangello, author of Blow Your House Down and A Life in Men
‘In Becoming Delilah, Sara Marchant reveals her keen insight into human behavior and life in a world of stacked decks. Beyond that, her deep engagement with the physical world – from cultivating hydrangeas to renovating a house – is rendered beautifully via a protagonist whose devoted abuelita schooled her in many matters. In a world where girls must fend for themselves, she knows how to protect herself, find pleasure, and even when to hit the road. This book made me miss my great aunt and grandmother – and start gardening again’ — Deanne Stillman, author of Twentynine Palms