WHERE WATER LIES

An atmospheric tale of loss and second chances that weaves together the stories of two women, Eliza and Iris, whose past mistakes bring them to London, and specifically, to the Hampstead Ponds, where both swim each morning. Told in the present day with flashbacks to 1995 school years, there’s a strong YA element, and Iris’ story introduces an unexplored take on missing people and how they are found again.

How long would you let someone else’s secret control your life?

Eliza has lived two lives – one before she fell into an obsessive teenage friendship with twins Eric and Maggie, and the one after it was destroyed in a single afternoon.

To Eliza, Eric and Maggie were irreplaceable, so she hasn’t. Instead, drifting through life alone, she works as a teacher, living in an isolated cottage on the edge of Hampstead Heath, spending every morning diving into her memories as she swims in the Ponds – her guilt never far below the surface.

Twenty years might have passed, yet Eliza still can’t help searching for Maggie everywhere. Then one day she spots a woman who looks just like her. Eliza has spent half her life wondering what really happened that afternoon and if Maggie is back, will it help her finally get answers?

But memories are deceptive, like ripples on water. As the past and present collide, Eliza begins to wonder: will learning the truth set her free – or will it only drag her down deeper?

When she’s not writing fiction, Hilary Tailor runs a design consultancy, specialising in colour and trend forecasting. She has worked with adidas and Puma and sits on the Pantone View colour committee. Hilary was raised on the Wirral Peninsula and graduated from the Royal College of Art. Her debut novel, The Vanishing Tide, was published in 2022 and has thousands of five-star reviews. Where Water Lies is her second novel. Hilary is represented by Rebecca Ritchie at AM Heath.