WINNER OF THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS’ ASSOCIATION AWARD 2020

PICKED FOR WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2020

A PRIMA BOOK OF THE YEAR

An uplifting novel of mothers and daughters, secrets and the astonishing power of friendship, from the wildly popular bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things.

‘As lovely as a burst of bright bluebells’ Sunday Express ‘Technicolour’ Daily Mail

‘A moving exploration of the complex relationship between mothers and daughters’ Observer

‘A poignant tale of love and family’ Good Housekeeping

‘Enchanting … divine’ Prima ‘Beautifully written - astute and funny’ Daily Express

‘This book really shines … laugh-out-loud funny’ Stylist

Tilly was a bright, outgoing little girl who liked playing with ghosts and matches. She loved fizzy drinks, swear words, fish fingers and Catholic churches, but most of all she loved living in Brighton in Queenie Malone’s magnificent Paradise Hotel with its endearing and loving family of misfits. But Tilly’s childhood was shattered when her mother sent her away from the only home she’d ever loved to boarding school with little explanation and no warning.

Now an adult, Tilda has grown into an independent woman still damaged by her mother’s unaccountable cruelty. Wary of people, her only friend is her dog, Eli. But when her mother dies, Tilda returns to Brighton and with the help of her beloved Queenie sets about unravelling the mystery of her exile from The Paradise Hotel, only to discover that her mother was not the woman she thought she knew at all …

Mothers and daughters … their story can be complicated … but it can also turn out to have a happy ending.

‘A tender tale’ Woman & Home

‘Absorbing, tender and heartfelt’ Mike Gayle, author of The Man I Think I Know

‘Her best novel yet’ Hannah Beckerman, author of If Only I Could Tell You

‘Exuberant and full of zest’ Nina Pottell