“(A) vividly told and profoundly affecting memoir.” The Bookseller
“I read A Place for Everything with my heart in my mouth, gripped by this howl of anguish about loving someone you cannot help. This is both a love story and a horror story; an unforgettable account of a daughter going into battle to try to save her mother and father, and the toll it took. Painful, raw and with an honesty that rings clear as a bell. This is a beautiful book and an important one.” Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had a Little Sister
“You don’t have to have a connection to autism to find much to – enjoy perhaps isn’t the right word – that you can relate to in this book because it’s largely about the business of caring for your elderly parents when you are a woman who might have a whole shedload of other responsibilities.” Jane Garvey, Woman’s Hour.
‘The last decade of life is the new frontier for the diagnosis of autism – brought home to us in this captivating story.’ Professor Tony Attwood, clinical psychologist
“A very moving read.” My Weekly.
Anna Wilson’s memoir about growing up with her mother who remained undiagnosed with autism until her 70s is a both deeply affecting and searingly honest. Growing in a house that was loving, even if her mum was ‘a little eccentric’, she knew to keep things clean, to stay quiet, and to look the other way when things started to get ‘a bit much’ for mum. It is only when Anna has a family of her own and her mother reaches her 70s that the cracks really start to appear. More manic. More irrational. More detached from the world. When her father, the man who has calmed and cajoled her mother through her entire life becomes unwell, the whole world turns upside down.
There are stories of rage cycles and her mother only being able to love on her terms. It’s a confusing, frustrating, frightening world and that only begins to make sense when mother is finally diagnosed. A Place for Everything is a beautifully written, acutely well-observed story of love and forgiveness and big unspoken family truths. Fantastic
A Place for Everything by Anna Wilson is published by Harper Collins £16.99
“Watson adroitly [brings] the strands of his story together to create a disturbing journey to a shocking truth.” The Observer
“Creepy and packed with suspense and menace, it draws the reader into a community that has more than its fair share of skeletons to hide.” Daily Mail
“Dark and twisty, and full of surprises and so smartly done.” Joanna Cannon.
“S J Watson has done it again. Even more compelling than Before I Go To Sleep” Lesley Kara
“S J Watson, pacing his story with mesmerising expertise, keeps you so invested in the fates of his characters.” Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express
One the most anticipated books of the summer, Final Cut is the third thriller by the multi-million bestselling author SJ Watson whose phenomenally successful debut Before I Go to Sleep was made into a film staring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. This time Watson focuses on Blackwood Bay. An ordinary place, home to ordinary people. Formerly a buzzing seaside destination, it is now, ravaged by the effects of dwindling tourism and economic downturn, it’s a ghost town – and the perfect place for film-maker Alex to shoot her new documentary. But the community is deeply suspicious of her intentions. After all, nothing exciting ever happens in Blackwood Bay – or does it?
Full of twists and turns and dead sheep in the middle of the road, Final Cut is a sophisticated, exquisitely written, creepy, dense thriller of the highest order. It examines profound issues with smart sensitivity and is utterly compelling. Just excellent.
Final Cut by SJ Watson is published by Transworld £12.99
“Fans of Apple Tree Yard and The Girl on the Train will love the atmosphere of clenched ambiguity Tyce sustains so well.” Guardian
“This thriller breathes new life into the domestic noir genre and grips until the final page” Daily Express
Blood Orange is glittering and fierce and resolutely unsentimental, a glorious bonfire of a marriage thriller’ – Irish Times
‘Complex and menacing, this is a very impressive debut’ – Observer
The other most anticipated thriller of the summer, The Lies You Told is the second novel from the multi million bestselling writer of Blood Orange, Harriet Tyce. It is usually and notoriously difficult to follow such a huge best selling debut but Tyce has pulled it off with aplomb. We follow the story of Sadie who has moved back to London so her daughter can attend the exclusive school at which her domineering father has secured her a place. It’s highly sought-after and highly competitive. As are the mothers, Sadie soon discovers.
While she’s trying to get her daughter settled and navigate the fraught politics of the school gate, Sadie is also trying to reclaim a position in her old legal chambers – she used to practice as a criminal barrister. She’s given the junior brief on a scandalous case involving a male teacher and his student. It’s an opportunity to prove herself, but will she let a dangerous flirtation cloud her professional judgement? And will her sudden close friendship with another mother prevent her from seeing the truth – and the threat that she’s inviting into her home?
Gripping and sharply written, with heart-stopping pace and a gimlet eye; Tyce is queen of the domestic noire thriller. The suspense is as unbearable as her toxic school gate. Sublime.
The Lies You Told by Harriet Tyce is published by Headline £12.99