An intriguing, moving, and absolutely captivating family drama. Bernadette has to face her fears and start to take back control of her life when she decides to leave her husband. However on the night she plans to tell him, the foster mum of a small vulnerable boy Bernadette has taken under her wing, urgently needs her help. Louise Beech uses a variety of methods to tell this story, each isolated yet linked, and perfectly placed. A book enters the tale, a book that offers information, an explanation, and is essential to the flow of the story. It’s the unexpected small offerings, that might at first seem insignificant, that really set this story on fire for me. As I was swept up, as the links started to weld together, as the story came to a vibrantly intense conclusion, I found goosebumps settling on my arms. ‘The Mountain in My Shoe’ is expressive yet subtle, heart-wrenching yet tender, and I found it to be an unexpectedly beautiful read. ~ Liz Robinson
A 'Piece of Passion' from the publisher...
'It was an honour to publish Louise’s debut novel How To Be Brave, which was a Guardian Readers’ Pick for 2015 and included in ‘My Books of the Year’ on no fewer than 22 blogs. I think I vowed, about 20 percent of the way through reading that book for the first time, to publish whatever Louise wrote, and I haven’t changed my mind! Her writing is beautiful, her stories moving, heartbreaking and yet uplifting, her characters simply unforgettable. When I received the manuscript for The Mountain in My Shoe, I wondered if she could match her earlier success and capture me in the same way. Her debut was based on personal stories; this was something altogether different. Let’s just say that I laughed and cried reading her first draft, and was also chilled and completely drawn into an incredibly page-turning thriller. There were more than a few goose-bump moments! I realised that (perhaps by accident) she had written a psychological thriller, and it was as heart-wrenching as it was dark and twisty. I’ve never come across a writer like Louise, both as a reader and a publisher, and so many of her words, her images, her messages, her wonder stick in my mind. This is truly a book that you will never forget. You’ll be drawn into the lives of people whose lives aren’t working, be inspired, frightened, saddened and chilled, but you will, most of all, be a massive fan of this wonderful author. It’s outstanding.' ~Karen Sullivan, Publisher, Orenda Books
A missing boy. A missing book. A missing husband. A woman who must find them all to find herself.
On the night Bernadette finally has the courage to tell her domineering husband that she's leaving, he doesn't come home. Neither does Conor, the little boy she's befriended for the past five years. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers. With the help of Conor's foster mum, Bernadette must face her own past, her husband's secrets and a future she never dared imagine in order to find them all.Exquisitely written and deeply touching, The Mountain in My Shoe is both a gripping psychological thriller and a powerful and emotive examination of the meaning of family ...and just how far we're willing to go for the people we love.
‘A fabulous, exquisitely written novel that tugs at the soul … incredibly moving’ David Young
‘Deft and full of emotion’ Irish Times
‘A moving and powerful book’ Jane Lythell
‘Full of beautiful descriptions, images and observations … hauntingly poignant, with a relentless tension and pace’ Katie Marsh
‘A wonderful, nuanced book probing the damage wreaked by absence and neglect, while exploring the power of love and hope, the redemptive possibilities of family and friendship and what it means to be truly “home”. It made me laugh and cry by turns. I loved it’ Melissa Bailey
‘A rich, psychologically profound novel about overcoming adversity … I'll be mighty surprised if it doesn't fly straight into the bestseller lists. It’s a masterpiece’ Gill Paul
Author
About Louise Beech
Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The sequel, The Mountain in My Shoe, was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Maria in the Moon was compared to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, and widely reviewed. All three books have been number one on Kindle, Audible and Kobo in USA/UK/AU. She regularly writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for ten years. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice and being published in a variety of UK magazines. Louise lives with her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of Culture – and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.
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