Nicola Monaghan has produced an utterly compelling and depressing narrative of life on a council estate in one of Nottingham’s worst boroughs… [A]n inspiring debut.

Kerrie Ann's strident voice sounds authentic; her plight compelling and affecting

Monaghan's novel is direct and deceptively simple. In spite of the suffering there are surprising touches of humour and tenderness that bloom like flowers on asphalt

A shocking glimpse of Nottingham gangland

A powerful, loving and honest new voice

A wonderful novel... I am full of admiration

A gripping tale about how easily a life can spiral out of control

Incredibly impressive debut novel

Brilliant ... In a hilarious portrayal of the ups and downs of being wife No.2, The Second Wives Club puts paid to the stereotype of the wicked stepmother once and for all

This is the perfect holiday read but would be just as entertainiing on the commute to work as accompanying you pool side

Second wives form a club to bitch about their husbands and in-laws in this compelling read

Goodwin does an excellent job...a bleak, clever, complex and utterly compelling thriller with the grip of a pitbull.

Beautifully written...Idiosyncratic and highly enjoyable

North London gangland life and a very nasty murder mystery, but this highly compulsive, unputdownable novel is so much more...The events are extraordinary and the finale very disturbing and the reading experience is one of best I've had for a long time.

Intense and deeply disturbing, Sweet Gum is the kind of story you can't help wishing...was strictly confined to the pages of a book. But it's not - this is real life in a modern world: a seedily contemporary world of criminals, lap-dancing, drugs, perversion, prostitution and betrayal. Written by a journalist known for her investigations into the crime underworld, Sweet Gum brilliantly captures the sense of the London streets with a scintillating nastiness that's totally addictive. Unputdownable

Deliciously bittersweet...vividly evoked...an assured, ambitious and inventive work

Brisk and wry intelligence...there is a constant wit and genuine sparkle of language at work here

Her reputation as a gifted novelist will be assured...Sweet Gum balances a visceral portrait of modern evil with an ambitious work on the themes of redemption, love and justice which is both refreshing and strangely nostalgic.