Laura Barnett crafts narratives with a keen eye for emotional nuance and character depth. Her work delves into the complexities of human relationships and the interior lives of her protagonists. As a seasoned journalist, she brings a sharp observational skill and a fresh, engaging style to her fiction. Her debut novel is a compelling exploration of identity and the search for one's place in the world.
This thoughtful and heartfelt book develops two main themes: the healing power
of a compassionate understanding towards ourselves and others; and the ways
boundaries are set within and around various areas of our lives.
Twelve people. Twelve gifts. One Christmas to remember.A novel in stories about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort.
'Barnett has that rare talent, like Curtis Sittenfeld or Kate Atkinson, of building up the mundane aspects of everyday life until they acquire meaning' THE TIMES 'Barnett excels herself in this mesmerising ballad of a book...Greatest Hits is not just about music, it's about people: their ambitions, friendships and flaws. An absolute must read' STYLIST If you could choose just sixteen moments to define your entire life, what would they be? Cass Wheeler has seen it all - from the searing heights of success, to earth-shattering moments of despair. She has known passion, envy, pride, fear, and love. She has been a daughter, a mother, a singer, a lover. A musician born in 1950, Cass is now taking one day to select the sixteen songs in her repertoire that have meant the most to her. And behind each song lies a story - from the day her mother abandoned her, to her passionate first love, to the moment she lost everything. The dreams, the failures, the second chances. But what made her disappear so suddenly from her public life and, most importantly, can she find her way back?
A novel musing on the role small choices can play in determining the course of a life follows Eva and Jim, who meet by chance on a Cambridge street, and the three different paths their lives could take.