Anyone who has been stuck at home with a toddler will identify with Fran but we don’t all go to the lengths that she does …. She ups and leaves. But this is not just a book about mothers not coping for it is an interesting study of family relationships and surviving in the modern world.
Fran has been married to Nick for more than 12 years, since they were eighteen. They are happy together until a ‘little stranger’ arrives, in the form of baby Louis, and their lives are irrevocably changed. The boy has good health and a sweet nature, but Fran feels stifled, her old life merely a memory. So, one day, she simply walks away.
Kate Pullinger's new novel is gripping, sharp and brilliantly kind. She knows the gamble that life is and she never once flinches. Her books are always revelations’ Ali Smith
‘A witty, charming and highly readable novel, laced with an exploration of those primal fears that stubbornly remain taboo among mothers’ Independent
'Truths and lies are layered skilfully… Pullinger writes with insight about the damage that siblings can do to each other’ Daily Express
Author
About Kate Pullinger
Kate Pullinger was born in British Columbia and educated on Vancouver Island. She moved to England where she has worked as a lecturer and writer in residence at a variety of institutions including Battersea Arts Centre, and HMP Gartree and Maidstone. She is the author of several novels including When the Monster Dies (1989); The Last Time I Saw Jane (1996); and Weird Sister (1999).