A perfectly crafted, brief, tense tale of two strangers on a winter’s night in a quiet, secluded hotel and the stories they tell each other, from the acclaimed author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater.

Tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done.

One winter’s night, in a hotel on Ireland’s west coast, a man and a woman meet for the first time. As a snowstorm gathers outside, the hotel windows twinkle with fairy lights and they share a meal. The waiter pours wine and someone proposes a toast.

Janice and Gerry are strangers. In that casual, glancing space afforded to travelers who know they will never meet again, they each take their turn.

What makes a story a confession? In Sarah Moss's The Winter Guest, the storm outside is no match for the tension building within, and a playful icebreaker creates a surprising sort of fireside tale―charged, ticking, and ready for the spark.