The heart of everything - Henrietta McKervey

The Heart of Everything is a taut and compelling account of the nature of family relationships and the uneasy grasp of the past over the present. Perfect for fans of Anne Tyler and Maggie O'Farrell.

Mags Jensen begins her day as she always does - with a list. Once it is complete, she lays the table for lunch, spritzes perfume on her wrists and shuts the front door behind her.

That afternoon, her daughter Anita is irritated to discover the house empty. But as afternoon turns to evening, irritation turns to fear, her mother's recent tests for early-stage dementia looming in Anita's mind.

As the hours tick by with no word from Mags, the siblings are summoned home to join the search. Over several days, old tensions rise to the surface, harking back to an earlier tragedy that splintered the family. Powerful revelations take hold between the siblings, and their efforts to find Mags become increasingly frantic, as they are forced to ask: will they ever see their mother again?