Almost Life: A Novel

People "Best Sapphic Historical Romances" * Harper's Bazaar "Most Anticipated Books Coming Out This Spring" * Autostraddle "Most Anticipated Queer Books for March 2026" * Time "New Books You Should Read in March"

"Hargrave has a great eye and ear for close-focus, intimate scenes. Conversations, sexual encounters, and meals are vividly alive...Laure and Erica are richly drawn, in both heart and mind." -The New York Times

Two young women meet in Paris one sultry summer in a decades-spanning tour de force about the enduring power of young love and the poignant heartbreak of missed chances-perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People.

Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her PhD at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman. The moment the two women meet, the spark is undeniable, but their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make...

Erica and Laure's love story spans decades, marriage, children, secret trysts, and the agonizing changes-both personal and political-that might mean they can be together, after all. But when life brings them within touching distance again, will they be brave enough to seize a future together?

Beautifully capturing young love and all its complexities, Almost Life is a story of longing for the paths not taken, and the almost lives we live.