Alison

'Alison is Posy Simmonds meets Edward Bawden - and really, what higher praise could there be?' Observer

Subtle and deliciously complicated, this is a big book on big subjects, but lightly, elegantly done. I loved it' Tessa Hadley, author of Free Love

Alison is newly married, barely twenty and struggling to find her place in the world. A chance encounter with an older artist upturns her life and she forsakes convention and her working-class Dorset roots for the thrumming art scene of London in the late seventies.

As the thrill of bohemian romance leads inevitably to disappointment, Alison begins to find her own path - through art, friendship and love.

'This book is a testament to the right to choose your own life' Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater

'A delicious portrait of 80s and 90s London and a more universal tale of a working-class young woman making a life in a world that has not been designed for the likes of her. For all its effortlessness [...] Alison ends up carrying a great emotional heft. It's a lovely book, and I cried at the end.' Guardian