Stepping Up

'Written with such love and heart. Sarah has done an exceptional job of marrying her trademark comedy with deep and raw emotion. I loved it!' GIOVANNA FLETCHER

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE UNMUMSY MUM

Beth has never stuck at anything.

She's quit more jobs and relationships than she can remember and she still sleeps in her childhood bedroom. It's not that she hasn't tried to grow up, it's just that so far, the only commitment she's held down is Friday drinks at the village pub.

Then, in the space of a morning, her world changes.

An unspeakable tragedy turns Beth's life upside down, and she finds herself guardian to her teenage niece and toddler nephew, catapulted into an unfamiliar world of bedtime stories, parents' evenings and cuddly elephants. Having never been responsible for anyone - or anything - it's not long before she feels seriously out of her depth.

What if she's simply not up to the job?

With a little help from her best friend Jory (purely platonic, of course ...) and her lovely, lonely next-door neighbour, Albert, Beth is determined that this time she's not giving up. It's time to step up.

This is a story about digging deep for strength you never knew you had and finding magic in things that were there all along.

'STEPPING UP is a heart-blasting triumph of a novel - wise, witty and wonderfully human.' Isabelle Broom

'Stop EVERYTHING and read this! Funny, tender and beautifully observed. Loved, loved, LOVED it!' Cathy Bramley

'A moving and beautifully-told tale of parenthood but not as you know it. I just loved it.' Gillian McAllister