July, 1976. One morning Robert Riordan tells his wife, Gretta, that he is going around the corner to buy a newspaper.

He doesn’t return.

Drawn back home to London to help solve the mystery, Gretta’s grown-up children fit awkwardly into their childhood roles, and tensions run high. Each is at a turning point in his or her life. The eldest, Michael Francis, is increasingly estranged from his wife by parenthood and his guilt over a brief affair. Monica’s performance as a perfect stepmother is convincing no one; and Aoife, the black sheep of the family, is finding that even in New York she can’t hide from the secret that has set her apart since childhood.

A journey back to Connemara, Ireland, brings surprises, insights and revelations, as each of them confronts the knotty tangle of family life and love. Elegant and compelling, Instructions for a Heatwave secures Maggie O’Farrell’s position as one of the best of the new generation of Irish writers.

When a married man suffers a sudden fatal accident, two women are shattered—his wife and someone else’s—and past secrets, desires and regrets are brought to light

While walking home from work one evening, Jeff Manning is struck by a car and killed. Not one but two women fall to pieces at the news: his wife, Claire, and his co-worker Tish. Reeling from her loss, Claire must comfort her grieving son and contend with funeral arrangements, well-meaning family members and the arrival of Jeff’s estranged brother—her ex-boyfriend—Tim.

With Tish’s co-workers in the dark about her connection to Jeff outside the workplace, she volunteers to attend the funeral on the company’s behalf, but only she knows the true risk of inserting herself into the wreckage of Jeff’s life. Told through the three voices of Jeff, Tish and Claire, Hidden explores the complexity of relationships, our personal choices and the responsibilities we have to the ones we love.