Unexpected

‘Loved this clever and funny novel' Anna Mazzola'A heartwarming depiction of female friendship as a bond stronger than any other' The Times'Moving' Daily Mail

A funny, addictive and poignant novel about what happens when the lines between friendship, romance, and family begin to blur. For fans of Meg Mason and Dolly Alderton.∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗Kessie and Robin have been best friends since they were small. Now they've reached their mid-thirties, and biological clocks are ticking loudly. But Kessie is single, Robin's partner is ambivalent about trying for a baby, and single parenting sounds almost impossible.When one of them gets pregnant, the other finds herself helping out to an extent that neither had expected. How far is a supportive friend supposed to go? What do you do when you feel like a mother to a child who isn't yours? Are there alternative ways to conceive of a family?∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗'Funny and heartwarming' Closer‘Wiles writes with humour, tenderness and wisdom' Marianne Levy'An intelligent, thought-provoking, tender and very real exploration of friendship, pregnancy and the changing face of modern parenting' Susannah Wise'I didn't want this novel to end…offers a brutally honest portrait of motherhood in its joys and despairs. Radiant' Donna Freitas'This novel reminds us that chosen families are as complicated, messy and thick with love as biological ones' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan'Original, thoughtful, stimulating and highly readable' Vesna GoldsworthyReaders love Ellen Wiles'Absorbed from page one' Reader review, ?????'A fantastic read. I was completely gripped throughout' Reader review, ?????'Communicates a difficult topic with incredible insight and poetic language. I became completely absorbed by the characters' Reader review, ?????'Loved the characters and the way the story was told through them' Reader review, ?????

About the author

Ellen Wiles was born in 1981 and grew up in Reading. Hoping to "change the world", she did a Masters in law and human rights at UCL, and became a barrister at a London chambers, disappearing off periodically to work with Bushmen in Botswana and Burmese refugees in a camp in Thailand. She is the author of Saffron Shadows and Salvaged Scripts: Literary Life in Myanmar Under Censorship and in Transition (Columbia University Press, 2015) which includes new translations of novel extracts, stories and poems as well as extended interviews and descriptions of the place and the people. This is her first novel.