One long, hot summer Andy and her friends begin a game that will take their whole lives to play out.

'Engrossing, beguiling, and with an undertow of menace, Before the Ruins is a masterly debut from a richly talented author.' Sarah Waters 'Jaw-droppingly brilliant writing' Marian Keyes Andy believes that she has left her past far behind her. But when she gets a call from Peter's mother to say he's gone missing, she finds herself pulled into a search for answers. Bored and restless after their final school exams, Andy, Peter, Em and Marcus broke into a ruined manor house nearby and quickly became friends with the boy living there. Blond, charming and on the run, David's presence was as dangerous as it was exciting. The story of a diamond necklace, stolen from the house fifty years earlier and perhaps still lost somewhere in the grounds inspired the group to buy a replica and play at hiding it, hoping to turn up the real thing along the way. But the game grew to encompass decades of resentment, lies and a terrible betrayal. Now, Andy's search for Peter will unearth unimaginable secrets - and take her back to the people who still keep them.

"Gosling is a stylish, sophisticated writer, and we realize that we are following Andy on what amounts to a grand scavenger hunt for the truth. Rain falls relentlessly, and the ensuing floods form an ominous backdrop to a story that becomes darker as it goes along." - The New York Times

"A stellar debut... The gorgeous, poetic prose perfectly complements the suspenseful plot." - Publishers Weekly starred review

"Atmospheric... Gosling uses her richly ruinous setting as a jumping off point to examine class, innocence, morality, and loss" - LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2021

"A whip-smart debut" - Shelf Awareness

"Wonderfully sophisticated and beautifully conceived... a captivating and thought-provoking novel" - New York Journal of Books

"Richly atmospheric and exquisitely written, Before the Ruins is wistful and haunting, hopeful and beautiful." - BookPage

"Gosling's atmospheric debut takes a familiar theme - the way the things we do as teenagers reverberate in later life - but treats it with care and empathy... the finely drawn characters, especially the spiky narrator Andrea, linger in the memory" - Mail on Sunday