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Tenderness

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What to expect

'A story of love, liars and secrets . . . Shady, sexy, suspicious - perfect summer holiday reading' The Times, 2026 Must-Read round-up

'The Wedding People meets The White Lotus' People

'Will have you gripped for many hours by the pool . . . I couldn't put it down' Cosmopolitan Best Summer Reads

Shay was no longer in the cult, but still, it made her wedding guests nervous that she was bringing them to an island . . .

On a remote island off the coast of Virginia, family and friends gather to celebrate the wedding of Shay O'Connor and Andrew Pruitt. From the moment the guests arrive, all they can whisper about is the bride, who recently left the headline-making cult Synanon.

Told from the interwoven perspectives of Shay's brother William, her longtime friend Joel, and Shay herself, this slow-burn mystery excavates dark family histories and romantic regrets. As the wedding approaches, Joel and William pull at the loose threads of Shay's story, and it becomes clear there is an even greater threat on the island than the secrets each character is keeping from one another.

Set in the tinderbox of the 1970s, Tenderness is a lit match, bringing hidden truths to light, and asking if we can ever see ourselves or the people we love for who they truly are.

Praise for TENDERNESS

'This slow-burn mystery exhumes dark family histories and romantic regrets . . . I was swept away' Book of the Month, Platinum

'INTOXICATING. You'll find yourself turning page after page, utterly swept up in the heady spell it casts' Megan Abbott

'In equal parts a love story, mystery, a look at grief and a tale of family, this story is tenderly told' RED

'I was sucked right in by this absorbing novel, which takes place at a wedding where everyone has a secret and disaster looms' Good Housekeeping

'A gorgeous exploration of family drama, told with an addictive precision. I devoured it' Heather Darwent

'Dark, tense and richly layered. A wedding you won't want to miss' Marianne Cronin

'Sizzles with a dark tension. Impossible to put down' Julie Owen Moylan

'Mesmerizing. Will have even experienced suspense readers holding their breath' Publishers Weekly

'Had me riveted from page one' Hannah Pittard

Critics Review

[A] story of love, liars and secrets . . . Shady, sexy, suspicious - perfect summer holiday reading.
The Times, 2026 Must Read Roundup
Tenderness will have you gripped for many hours by the pool . . . Full of the classic tropes of addictive wedding novels - wealth inequality, family drama and lovers' secrets - I couldn't put it down.
Cosmopolitan, Best Summer Reads
A mesmerizing meditation on the corrosive power of self-deception that will have even experienced suspense readers holding their breath
Publishers Weekly
I was sucked right in by this absorbing novel, which takes place at a wedding where everyone has a secret and disaster looms
Good Housekeeping
Sly, elegant and menacing, Rowan Beaird's Tenderness is an intoxicating tale of love and danger, terror and deceit. You'll find yourself turning page after page, utterly swept up in the heady spell it casts, and the emotional heft that rises to an astonishing crescendo.
Megan Abbott
A gorgeous exploration of family drama, told with an addictive precision. I devoured it
Heather Darwent, author of The Things We Do To Our Friends
In equal parts a love story, mystery, a look at grief and a tale of family, this story is (no pun intended) tenderly told, showing affection for all the characters
Red Magazine
Sizzles with a dark tension. Impossible to put down
Julie Owen Moylan
The atmosphere is oppressive and riven with tension - and Beaird turns the screw . . . it's headily intoxicating and probes grief, trauma, accountability, and the choices we make to protect those we love - and ourselves.
Natasha Poliszczuk
Had me riveted from page one.
Hannah Pittard
Author Rowan Beaird
Narrator Evan Sibley, Katharine Chin, Pete Cross
Duration 9 hours and 29 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781786587763
Format Audiobook
Publisher Manilla Press
Genre Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Thriller / suspense fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

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