Author:Tessa Hadley

'A novel as tight as a snare-drum and as bright as the moon' Financial Times
Discover the debut novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Late in the Day and Free Love, Tessa Hadley.
Clare and Helly have been friends since school. Now, Clare is married with three small children, she bakes her own bread and buys her clothes from the charity shop. Meanwhile, Helly is an actress and has her golden curves pasted up on billboards ten foot high. Each of them seems to want what the other has.
An improbable coincidence brings Clare back into contact with someone she once had sex with at a teenage party: he's Helly's new boyfriend. The encounter needn't have meant anything - it could just have been funny, or embarrassing - but it seems to have the power to shake up everything in Clare's life.
Accidents in the Home dips in and out of the lives of Clare's complicated, close, fraught family, reaching out into the past for explanation and illumination as well as across the present. This is the debut of a quite formidable fictional talent.
'This writer is a rare and startling gem; she deserves to be read' Guardian
Few writers give me such consistent pleasure
—— Zadie SmithShe has such great psychological insights into human beings, which is rare. She is one of the best fiction writers writing today
—— Chimamanda Ngozie AdichieSurprising and rewarding... Hadley has pulled off an important and tricky task... Not many books remind you so directly and forcefully that reading is about creating new ways of seeing the world
—— New York TimesCharts with intelligence, humour and unflinching perception the way we mostly fail to realise how we have to live
—— Times Literary SupplementIn clear prose that gorgeously fixes nuances so evanescent as to be rare, the novel unfolds an artful, inventive spectrum of opportunity and love - Tessa Hadley is that rare writer who has the convictions of her ambitions
—— ObserverEndlessly satisfying... [Zadie Smith] has never written better. Pitch-perfect, masterful and sophisticated
—— TelegraphZadie Smith at her finest... [An] unflinching portrait of friendship... [A] triumph
—— GuardianIngenious, inspired... Zadie Smith's new novel is very good indeed
—— Sunday TimesShrewd observation and sly satire, profundity and genuine purpose, as well as some of the most heart-stoppingly lyrical writing of her career
—— Scotland on SundayA powerful story of lives marred by secrets, unfulfilled potential and the unjustness of the world... interwoven with another beautiful story of the dances people do to rise above it all
—— EconomistClever, funny, confident and kind. Her gift for language is a pleasure and her character shines through
—— Evening StandardA sweeping meditation on race and identity... [Smith's] most ambitious work yet
—— EsquireA nuanced, richly rewarding tale
—— Mail on SundayLauren Kate really knows how to keep a reader engaged. A breathtaking read. 5/5
—— Gripped Into BooksWith its original plot and charming protagonist, there is much to like about Emily Barr's young-adult debut.
Her [Emily's] page-turning talents are put to good use in Flora's adventure, as the reader accompanies a brave teenager on a journey to discover who she really is.
Barr's light touch captures the innocence and integrity of Flora's voice.
Readers will surely have difficulty forgetting about Flora, her parents and their predicament.
An icily atmospheric story with a captivating hook.
A pacy page-turner that packs a significant emotional punch.
An absorbing, original and definitely memorable book.
—— Sunday ExpressA winning mix of a John Green/ Rainbow Rowell-style sharpness and sensitivity, but underlined with a darker edge, belying the author's previous experience as a thriller writer . . . a coming-of-age, finding-yourself-type novel which is, in turn, unsettling and uplifting.
—— ViewThis is yet another masterwork from the wonderful Israeli novelist whose work resonates with emotional intelligence, humanity and truth.
—— Eileen Battersby , Irish TimesBold, brash, angry and heartbreakingly tender, with flurries of exasperated humour, here is a novel to take one by surprise… A demanding and gloriously rewarding novel, in it Grossman confronts the business of being alive.
—— Eileen Battersby , Irish TimesA sensitive and deeply emotional account of a past-prime comedian… This book is an immersive read for both the fans and haters of the stand-up comedy, but tread carefully if you’re not up for an emotional rollercoaster.
—— Yoojung Chun , Oxford StudentThe perfect antidote to Trump.
—— Sarah Churchwell , GuardianThis book is a compelling study of the relationship between artist and spectator, and how suffering feeds into art, and he’s made of it a bravura performance… Extraordinary.
—— Alastair Mabbott , HeraldA haunting, intense and Man Booker International prize-winning novel from a great writer.
—— Mail on SundayIncredibly fast paced, and the dialogue comes at you like a machine gun… It is powerful in its own right.
—— Sara Garland , NudgeAbrasive, unexpected and eventually heartbreaking, it is a masterclass in characterisation and structure, and it beat off some exceptionally strong competition to win the prize… A Horse Walks into a Bar is quite unlike any other Grossman book except in one important respect: it’s another masterpiece.
—— Nick Barley , New StatesmanExcellent.
—— Dara Ó Briain , ObserverPitch-perfect black comedy
—— Salman Rushdie , Guardian






