Slanting Towards the Sea

Synopsis

Ten years after divorcing the love of her life, Ivona has returned to her childhood home on Croatia's Adriatic coast to care for her aging father and salvage her family's crumbling finances. Once full of promise, her life now feels suspended between what was and what might have been. When she reconnects with her ex-husband, now happily married with children, old emotions resurface, forcing her to confront the choices that shaped her life and the possibility that the future may still hold unexpected paths.

Set against the luminous Croatian coastline and spanning two decades of personal and national transformation, Slanting Towards the Sea is an emotionally rich debut about love, regret, ambition, and the fragile nature of potential. Lidija Hilje writes with remarkable tenderness and psychological insight, capturing the quiet heartbreak of unrealized dreams while celebrating the resilience required to begin again. Sweeping yet intimate, it is a deeply affecting novel about family, memory, and the enduring hope that change remains possible.

About the Author

Lidija Hilje is a Croatian novelist and certified book coach whose writing has appeared in The New York Times and other publications. After practicing law in Croatia for a decade, she turned to writing and mentoring authors. She lives in Zadar with her husband and two daughters. Slanting Towards the Sea is her debut novel.

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

Publication Date

July 7, 2026

Format

Paperback

Pages

336

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Family Saga · Love & Relationships · Croatian Fiction · Coming-of-Age · Contemporary Fiction

ISBN

9781668078686