Description

A gulp-it-down-in-one-sitting novel, The Winter Guest, from Sunday Times bestselling author, Sarah Moss, is an enthralling story about how the past will always come to find you in the end.

‘I found it intoxicating’ – Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
‘Deliciously twisty. Destined to be one of those Christmas Eve classics’ – Rachel Joyce, author of The Homemade God
‘Pure pleasure from start to finish’ – Katherine Rundell, author of The Golden Mole

Tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done.

On Christmas Eve, in a hotel on Ireland’s west coast, a man and a woman meet for the first time. As a snowstorm gathers outside windows twinkling with fairy lights, they share a meal, pour wine, propose a toast.

Janice and Gerry may be strangers to one another, but they each have a confession to make.

As the blizzard howls, the night will take an unexpected turn, and their conversation will have consequences far beyond the candlelit table . . .

‘A perfectly measured serving of expert storytelling with a deliciously dark twist. I inhaled it in a single sitting. This is classic Sarah Moss’ – Jan Carson, author of Few and Far Between

Readers love The Winter Guest:

‘Powerful, provocative and a classic in the making. One of my best reads of 2026’
‘The Winter Guest then is a perfect novel for a cold winters evening, preferably beside a warm fire’
‘This is a must read. Hands down, you will not read anything better going into the Christmas season’
‘Sarah Moss has crafted a perfect tale spun out beside a hotel fireside in the snow-swept darkness of an Irish Christmas’
‘This short novella by Sarah Moss was a delectable feast’
‘The writing is beautiful and will transport you to a stormy winters night’

Publisher Review

Deliciously twisty, both whip-smart and playful, this is destined to be one of those Christmas Eve classics you come back to every year as soon as darkness falls and the mince pies hit the table. — Rachel Joyce, author of The Homemade God The Winter Guest is a perfectly measured serving of expert storytelling with a deliciously dark twist. I inhaled it in a single sitting. This is classic Sarah Moss — Jan Carson, author of Few and Far Between I love Sarah Moss’s work. The Winter Guest was pure pleasure from start to finish; funny, gripping and sharp – I read it in a single, gleeful sitting — Katherine Rundell, author of Super-Infinite Smart and funny, clever and astute, and hugely entertaining. I found it intoxicating — Sarah Winman, author of Still Life