Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Ava loves the wildlife refuge where she grew up, but the long-buried secrets she discovers there threaten to destroy her family-and the paradise they call home.
But is it really paradise if you’re trapped inside?
When wildlife ranger Johnny Hayward discovers a terrified young girl hiding in the grasses, he joins the tight-knit staff in trying to solve the mystery of how the girl, Maeve, came to their land. But when the police arrive, she tells them that Johnny is her father. He goes along with the lie, a split-second decision that entangles them both in a lifelong cover-up.
Decades later, Maeve’s daughter, Ava, grows up believing that same lie. Ava’s love for the Refuge, where she lives in the staff cabins with her mother and is training to be a tour ranger, prevents her from dwelling on the fact that her mother never leaves the grounds-and won’t explain why. But after starting to date a local boy, Ava begins to question her sheltered upbringing, shocked to discover that life outside their fences is not the nightmare her mother always taught her to fear. She is obsessed with answering one question:Â What is her mother so afraid of?
Angry that her mother and Johnny won’t give her answers, Ava follows a string of clues to investigate the disturbing events that led to Maeve’s arrival all those years ago, unearthing secrets that some will do anything to keep buried.
When a ranger rescues a young girl inside a wildlife refuge, the impact of what happens next reverberates into the next generation.
Author Carly Hillman serves up a dual-timeline thriller in The Refuge. Although the story begins in the past with young Maeve telling the police that Johnny is her father and him going along with the lie, this offers significant clues about Johnny’s personality.
Having lost his own family, he shares a strong bond with the little girl who is reluctant to trust others.
Knowing instinctively that Maeve has gone through a terrible tragedy, he takes her in. Fast forward to the present, and Maeve’s daughter, Ava, seeks answers about the past.
Ava’s curiosity is natural, along with her displeasure when neither Johnny nor Maeve will provide answers. In the process of unraveling the past, though, Ava puts herself in the path of danger.
The Refuge features a young woman’s quest to unlock the secrets of the past, not realizing that doing so will cause trouble.
Carly Hillman is a writer and Peabody Award–winning television producer. She spent a decade working at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she produced the show’s interviews. Her debut novel The Refuge will be published by Crooked Lane Books in September 2026. She earned a degree in English from Harvard University, graduating with honors. Carly lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter, and their cat named Sponge.
