Metronome

For twelve years, Aina and Whitney have lived in exile on a remote island, punished for a crime they committed together. Each is bound to a croft by pills that must be taken every eight hours to keep them alive. To fill the days, Aina tends her garden, works on jigsaw puzzles and makes music, while Whitney builds sculptures and draws maps.

Then things begin to change. Wreckage from shipwrecks keeps washing ashore, and the supply deliveries that once kept them provisioned have stopped. On the day they are supposed to be collected for parole, the Warden never arrives. In his place stands a sheep, and sheep cannot swim.

As the days pass, Aina starts to believe their confinement is tied to a larger peninsula, and she suspects Whitney has been hiding things from her. If he can keep secrets, she reasons, so can she. Certain they have been left behind, she begins looking for a way off the island.

Aina must come to terms with past choices that still weigh on her, and she senses that the most consequential decision of her life is still ahead. This debut comes from an award-winning author, and readers who enjoy Emma Stonex, Francine Toon and Megan Hunter may be drawn to it.