The first time Derek was ever actively afraid of the De Luca children was two or three weeks in, when Angeloscreamed at them for ruining his life, and headbutted theplate in front of him until it was shrapnel ...

Sophie and her five children, still raw from tragedy, relocate fromCanada to her partner Derek's childhood home. There they attemptto forge a new life together - but their new family is shadowed bygrief, myth, and a lingering sense of the uncanny. Through shifting perspectives, from Jules, the delicate middlechild, to fierce Ema, to volatile Angelo, debut author Juliano Zaffinopaints an unforgettable portrait of love, loyalty, and the stories we tellourselves to survive. Blending psychological suspense with intimate family drama,and with echoes of Virginia Woolf and Shirley Jackson, The Steps isboth deeply moving and eerily unsettling, a meditation on trauma,family bonds, and the thin line between tenderness and violence.