In search of a fresh start, Nancy and her ten-year-old daughter Lara move to Ripton. A quiet, picturesque village in the rolling Derbyshire countryside, it seems like the perfect place to settle after London.

But the quaint village atmosphere belies a social strata that proves an immediate minefield. Lara clashes with Rosie, the daughter of Ripton's queen bee Imogen, and, at the school gates, Nancy quickly finds herself outside the whispering circle of parents.

As much as Nancy finds the playground politics absurd, it's impossible to ignore in claustrophobic village life. When another child accuses Lara of something serious, the parents are divided in who to believe.

In the run-up to Ripton's festival, where one girl will be crowned the Spring Queen, the tension escalates. And Nancy will learn just what lengths to which a parent might go for their child . . .

Wry, twisting and suspenseful, Michelle Frances tells a story of schoolyard sniping turning into something much uglier in The Playground, for fans of Liane Moriarty and Adele Parks.