'I've read no better novel in years' Samantha Harvey
A powerfully evocative and tenderly realised debut novel about family secrets, the power of imagination - and coming of age in the dying dreams of the 1970s
1976. Nine-year-old Frank Dart dreams of his absent dad, away at sea; while making sure his mum's got all the cigarettes she needs for the long drive in their battered Citroën down to their new home in North Devon.
Here in Aunt Perry's house, Frank and his little sister Odette must make sense of their cousins' hostility - while their mum seems to drift further and further away. The house is haunted by secrets, past and present; and as spring turns to a suffocatingly hot summer, the past threatens to boil over and scald everything in its wake.
Trouble Was is a raw and tender story of growing up too soon, betrayal and resilience, love and survival - and a dazzling exploration of toxic family politics, buried secrets and the power of the imagination.
'An evocation of a seventies English childhood that's so intense, so immediate, that you can almost taste the sticky orange squash on your tongue' Hari Kunzru
| ISBN: | 9781526698605 |
| Publication date: | 2nd July 2026 |
| Author: | Charlotte Edwardes |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 304 pages |
| Genres: |
General Fiction Narrative theme: Coming of age Family Drama |
'I've read no better novel in years' Samantha Harvey
A powerfully evocative and tenderly realised debut novel about family secrets, the power of imagination - and coming of age in the dying dreams of the 1970s
1976. Nine-year-old Frank Dart dreams of his absent dad, away at sea; while making sure his mum's got all the cigarettes she needs for the long drive in their battered Citroën down to their new home in North Devon.
Here in Aunt Perry's house, Frank and his little sister Odette must make sense of their cousins' hostility - while their mum seems to drift further and further away. The house is haunted by secrets, past and present; and as spring turns to a suffocatingly hot summer, the past threatens to boil over and scald everything in its wake.
Trouble Was is a raw and tender story of growing up too soon, betrayal and resilience, love and survival - and a dazzling exploration of toxic family politics, buried secrets and the power of the imagination.
'An evocation of a seventies English childhood that's so intense, so immediate, that you can almost taste the sticky orange squash on your tongue' Hari Kunzru
Trouble Was features in the following genres: General Fiction, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Family Drama
Trouble Was is available in Paperback, Hardback
Trouble Was was written by Charlotte Edwardes and published by Bloomsbury an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Trouble Was has 304 pages
£15.29