New York­ers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a jour­nal­ist, trav­el to Italy with their friends from Maine — Finn; his wife, Tay­lor; and their daugh­ter, Snow. ​“From the begin­ning,” says Tay­lor, ​“it was a con­spir­a­cy for Lizzie and Finn to be togeth­er.” Told Rashomon-style in alter­nat­ing points of view, the char­ac­ters expose and stum­ble upon lies and infi­deli­ties past and present. Snow, ten years old and pre­co­cious­ly drawn into a far more adult dra­ma, becomes the cat­a­lyst for cat­a­stro­phe as the nov­el explores col­lu­sion and betray­al in mar­riage. Set on the sun-drenched coast of the Ion­ian Sea, Sir­a­cusa unfolds with the pac­ing of a psy­cho­log­i­cal thriller and deliv­ers an unex­pect­ed final act that none will see coming.