A single moment can shatter a family—and its echoes can last a lifetime.

In Flashlight, a seemingly ordinary summer evening turns into a mystery that reverberates across decades. Ten-year-old Louisa walks out onto a breakwater with her father, Serk, in a quiet coastal town in Japan. Hours later, she wakes alone on the beach—soaked, disoriented, and with no trace of him. Presumed drowned, Serk’s disappearance fractures the family forever.

As Louisa and her American mother return home, the unanswered questions linger. Over time, the truth of that night begins to surface—unfolding in unexpected ways and revealing the hidden currents of memory, loss, and love.

Ferociously intelligent and deeply moving, this shortlisted novel for the Booker Prize 2025 and the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026 is a haunting exploration of grief, identity, and the secrets that shape our live