Fiona Shaw Books in Order

After a severe breakdown following her second child’s birth, Fiona Shaw tries to reconstruct her identity and understand her illness. Writing and revisiting childhood experiences become part of a difficult search for recovery, memory and a coherent sense of self.

In late-Victorian York, lives unfold around a cocoa factory, a photographic studio and an asylum. Ambition, desire and restrictive moral expectations shape an intimate story in which commerce and images promise opportunity while complicating personal freedom.

In the aftermath of war, a restless young woman and a traumatized man become connected through memories neither can escape. Moving between England and Ireland, their story explores the emotional consequences of violence, the desire to flee and the search for understanding.

After her marriage breaks down, Lydia grows close to doctor Jean Markham through her young son Charlie. Their love unsettles a conservative 1950s community, where gossip and prejudice threaten both their relationship and the child caught between adults.

Beginning during the Second World War and moving between England and Africa, Meg reflects on family loss and the marriage she chose from duty. Her hopes for her son force her to confront the secrets and regrets shaping their lives.

In a near-future England where implanted chips track everyone, Jacob escapes an orphanage determined to find his dog and leave the country. A group of children living outside the system offers his only chance of freedom.