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Anyone Who Had a Heart
Anyone Who Had a Heart
Aug 29, 2025 3:40 PM

Author:Mia Dolan,Annie Aldington

Anyone Who Had a Heart

Even a small town girl can have big dreams...

Marcie Brooks has returned to her home town with a baby and a ring on her finger. But for all her grandmother's insistence that she's a young widow, the truth is the only boy Marcie has ever loved tragically died before he could make good his promise to wed her. Sometimes she still feels his presence near her, which is both a comfort and an unnerving sign that she's inherited her grandmother's gifts...

However defending herself from unwanted attention has devastating consequences - Marcie has to leave Sheppey in a hurry. The offer of a job in a smart boutique on the Kings Road in London, arranged via her father's dodgy connections, seems to offer an ideal escape. But it doesn't take Marcie long to discover that her new Sicilian bosses have other business interests besides fashion...

Reviews

A fascinating read.

—— Bournemouth Echo

A poignant and mesmerising story of tragedy and triumph from the author of The Stanford Lasses

—— Country Gentleman’s Association

This charming tale will be perfect for when you want to escape the festive preparations

—— First magazine

One of the country's most popular storytellers

—— Scottish Daily Record

Beautifully observed . . . [Anshaw] intimately dissects how one event or choice can alter the trajectory of a life, how a fork in the road can lead to wholly unexpected and divergent outcomes

—— Michiko Kakutani , The New York Times

A funny, vivid and pingingly true story about longing and the pain of love. Anshaw conveys beefy emotions and life-changing events with the most gossamer of touches

—— Rachel Johnson , Vogue

Carol Anshaw is one of those authors who should be a household name . . . [a] fine, eloquent novel

—— USA Today

Superb . . . [Anshaw] has a knack for capturing a personality in a single phrase

—— Financial Times

Moving and engaging . . . Anshaw has written not only a funny, smart and closely observed story, but also one that explores the way tragedy can follow hard on celebration, binding people together even more lastingly than passion.

—— Sylvia Brownrigg , The New York Times Book Review

Words used to praise Anshaw's earlier novels - witty, warm, intimate, poignant - apply equally well to her most compelling book yet, a wholly seductive tale of siblings, addiction, conviction, and genius . . . Masterful in her authenticity, quicksilver dialogue, wise humour, and receptivity to mystery, Anshaw has created a deft and transfixing novel of fallibility and quiet glory

—— Booklist

A brilliant feat of storytelling . . . one of the most intensely vibrant novels I've ever read

—— Boston Globe

Here's passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life. Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide

—— Emma Donoghue

Splendid . . . sits somewhere between a Jonathan Franzen novel and a collection of haiku

—— Entertainment Weekly

Funny, touching, knowing . . . a quiet, lovely, genuine accomplishment

—— Publishers Weekly

Anshaw is that rare, brilliant, witty writer whose prose is rich and buttery, and whose plotting is as well-conceived and seamlessly executed as that of the most intricate thriller

—— Chicago Tribune

If you love Jonathan Franzen, you'll love this compelling book

—— Entertainment Weekly

Graceful and compassionate . . . Writing with rueful wit and a subtle understanding of the currents and passions that rule us, Anshaw demonstrates that struggling to do one's best, whatever the circumstances, makes for a life of consequence

—— People

A fine novel . . . stunning . . . wise

—— TLS

Anshaw submerges the reader in gorgeous detail

—— Independent

Carol Anshaw's writing is cool and funny, outraged and sympathetic by turns. The book is full of sharp observations and memorable phrases

—— Literary Review

Beautiful prose

—— Independent on Sunday

Beautiful prose

—— Independent on Sunday

A series of beautifully detailed snapshots . . . an arresting examination of three intersecting lives, forcefully told

—— Telegraph
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