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What if abandoning your family actually saved you?August Monk has built her life on control-every deadline tracked, crisis managed, milestone marked. But at 47, with her company hemorrhaging money and her marriage fracturing, even perimenopause rejects her careful plans.On a family holiday, August is certain her joy will return and her marriage will repair. Instead, at Britain's oldest brewery, a sip of beer transports August to an alternate reality where she awakens naked in a field of pulsing red mushrooms.Taken in by Margaret, a midwife harbouring dangerous secrets, August discovers a world where women commune with the fungal network beneath their feet, a powerful connection revered and hunted.As August brews beer convinced it will send her home, the mycelial web whispers secrets she's just beginning to understand. When Margaret's female community faces persecution from a zealous priest, August must choose: fight for this newfound family or find her way back to the daughter she left behind.

What if abandoning your family actually saved you? August Monk has built her life on control-every deadline tracked, crisis managed, milestone marked. But at 47, with her company hemorrhaging money and her marriage fracturing, even perimenopause rejects her careful plans. On a family holiday, August is certain her joy will return and her marriage will repair. Instead, at Britain's oldest brewery, a sip of beer transports August to an alternate reality where she awakens naked in a field of pulsing red mushrooms. Taken in by Margaret, a midwife harbouring dangerous secrets, August discovers a world where women commune with the fungal network beneath their feet, a powerful connection revered and hunted. As August brews beer convinced it will send her home, the mycelial web whispers secrets she's just beginning to understand. When Margaret's female community faces persecution from a zealous priest, August must choose: fight for this newfound family or find her way back to the daughter she left behind.