The author's wife, eighty-year-old former actress, Ivy Montclaire, returns to the small Scottish island where her husband, Terence Nightingale, fell to his death in 1976. She and Terence adored each other. They were the picture-perfect celebrity couple of the 1970s, partying with the rich and famous at their friends' house, Hollow Pines.
 
Now a hotel, Hollow Pines is the last place Ivy wants to be. But she is determined to confront the ghosts - and the guilt - that have haunted her for fifty years.
 
Meanwhile, Catrina, a young barista, is visiting the hotel for a weekend of wine-tasting with friends, meant to distract her from the disappearance of her fiancé. But when a raging storm cancels the ferry home, she finds herself trapped in the hotel's library... with one of Terence Nightingale's novels.
 
What she discovers changes everything.
 
As the past and present collide, Ivy is forced to confront the truth she has avoided for half a century, and Catrina must decide whether some secrets should stay buried or be brought into the light. Both women learn that grief can warp a life...but the truth can set it free.
 
Haunting, atmospheric, and ultimately hopeful, The Author's Wife is a dual-timeline tale of betrayal, reconciliation, and the courage to begin again at any age.