Author:Jane Fallon,Bea Holland,Ayesha Antoine
Brought to you by Penguin.
THE TANTALISING AND UNPUTDOWNABLE NO. 1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF TELL ME A SECRET
I want to make my husband fall back in love with me - so I can shatter his heart.
I want it to hurt.
Paula has had Robert's back since they got together as drama students. She gave up her dreams so he could make it, now he's one of the nation's most popular actors.
But Paula's just discovered he's having an affair.
Now, she's going to break his heart like he broke hers.
It will be her greatest acting role ever.
Revenge is sweet . . . Isn't it?
'Compulsively readable. Sent icy shivers down my spine. I loved it' Daily Mail
'A delightfully acerbic and entertaining revenge fantasy. Will keep your riveted' Sunday Mirror
'A deliciously devious plot. A darkly comic and addictive read' Daily Express
'The twists and turn will totally hook you' Closer
'A romp-along tale of infidelity, manipulation and getting even. Very pleasing' Good Housekeeping
'You can always rely on Jane Fallon for a well-crafted, dryly funny, just-one-more-chapter-before-I-turn-out-the-light read. My Sweet Revenge ticks all those boxes' Red
© Jane Fallon 2017 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
The bestselling author of Getting Rid of Matthew and Strictly Between Us tells a bitter-sweet tale of high passions, infidelity and revenge. Watch your back . . .
Compulsively readable. Sent icy shivers down my spine. I loved it
A deliciously devious plot. A darkly comic and addictive read
—— Daily ExpressEntertaining escapism
—— Jane Corry , Midweek HeraldA romp-along tale of infidelity, manipulation and getting even. Very pleasing
The twists and turns of My Sweet Revenge will totally hook you
—— CloserYou can always rely on Jane Fallon for a well-crafted, dryly funny, just-one-more-chapter-before-I-turn-out-the-light read. My Sweet Revenge ticks all those boxes
Fun and feisty women's fiction at its very best
—— HeatPraise for Jane Fallon
—— -Queen of chick lit Jane Fallon brings us another gripping novel of friendship, deceit and drama. She is at her edgy and entertaining best - definitely one to be passed around your girl squad!
—— OK MagazineChick lit with an edge
—— GuardianI love Fallon, she's in a category all of her own - her books are great fun and her characters are fabulous, believable women who take no nonsense.
—— Marian Keyes , Daily MailSparkling and unpredictable
—— ElleI'm obsessed . . . Winn writes with extraordinary power about trench warfare, taking us right into the heart of the terribly futility of this militarised massacre. She tackles class, love, innocence and masculinity with devastating insight and tenderness. I can't actually believe it's a debut . . . please rush out and buy it
—— Elizabeth DayIn Memoriam is both brutal and beautiful; the kind of rich and atmospheric and devastating story that you spend days recovering from. Anyone who loved Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong or Ian McEwan's Atonement as much as I did needs to read this book
—— Anna BonetWinn's accomplished debut presents two indelible characters - athletic Henry Gaunt and lyrical Sidney Ellwood, English boarding school chums who both believe their love for each other is unrequited. Whether they're posturing schoolboys on the cusp of World War I or enduring the visceral shock and horrifying randomness of death in the trenches, Gaunt and Ellwood are unceasingly drawn to each other, each afraid to risk following his heart until it may be too late.
—— Washington Post, Noteworthy Books for MarchIN MEMORIAM is a gripping and unsentimental love story that brings the First World War to life in a vividly new way. Alice Winn is a truly skilful writer, depicting her main characters, Gaunt and Ellwood, and the many layers of their relationship, beautifully, with real care and insight. She is unsparing in her depiction of the conflict in which they find themselves - powerfully evoking both the horrors of trench warfare and the devastating impact it had on those involved. She also brilliantly explores how the English public school system, with its casual brutalities and glorification of battle, was irrevocably intertwined with the war. An unforgettable novel, one I stayed up all night to finish, with characters I loved almost as much as they loved each other. . . Birdsong for a new generation
—— Joanna Quinn, author of THE WHALEBONE THEATREI loved this book. I loved Gaunt and Ellwood and how their hearts and stories became entwined in this masterful debut. My heart also became entwined with theirs, and there is no greater joy for me as a reader than that. Alice Winn and In Memoriam have my gratitude.
—— Ann NapolitanoA Novel of admirable historical heft and - even better - of rare, and resonant, empathy.
—— GuardianI read through the night to finish this blistering debut, too feverishly engrossed to sleep. When was the last time characters in a novel seemed so real to me, so cherishable, so alive? Alice Winn has made familiar history fresh; no account of the First World War has made me feel so vividly its horror, or how irrevocably it mutilated the world. That In Memoriam is also an extraordinary love story is a sign of Winn's wild ambition and her prodigious gifts: this is a novel that claims both beauty and brutality, the whole range of human life.
—— Garth Greenwell, author of CLEANNESS and WHAT BELONGS TO YOUA central relationship so utterly convincing that it will leave you bereft. Visceral, heartbreaking but full of heart, this is a masterpiece of war literature
—— Hanna Jameson, author of THE LAST and ARE YOU HAPPY NOWAlice Winn has pulled off a remarkable feat in making these men and the horrors of the First World War come so viscerally alive. It was like looking at a black and white photograph which has been colourised, and suddenly you understand that these shadowy people from the past also dreamed and cried and breathed just as we do now. I was completely absorbed, moved, and transported
—— Claire Fuller, author of UNSETTLED GROUNDThis debut captures an epic love story amid the brutalities of war
—— People MagazineStunning . . . brutal and unflinching but also beautiful. A triumph
—— Karen AngelicoWinn offers a fresh look at a subject many of us believe we know well. A tender story as much about love as it is about war
—— Rowan Hisayo BuchananA searing and harrowing novel about the love story between two young men men played out against a backdrop of the horrors of World War I. The writing was so visceral and intense, I honestly felt as if I was in the trenches with them, and I'm still thinking about the book weeks after reading it. An incredible debut.
—— Nikki SmithIn Memoriam is magnificent-dazzling and wrenching, witty and wildly romantic, with echoes of Brideshead Revisited and Atonement. I loved it
—— Lev Grossman, author of THE MAGICIANSExtraordinary. A truly epic tale of love unspoken, love shared and love lost. An instant and unforgettable classic
—— A.J. WestAn astonishingly confident and impressive debut, this love story set in the First World War is shocking, brutal, and memorable. It left me shaken - and very impressed
—— Lucy AtkinsWinn's superb debut chronicles a romance between two English boarding school classmates during WWI . . . both men grapple with the realities of war, which Winn vividly renders with descriptions of the wounded . . . . Amid the chaos, Winn stages excellent action scenes: a tense scouting mission, as well as a tunnel-digging episode involving an escape from a German POW camp. The hunger the men feel, as well as their shell shock, is palpable, but it is the men's love for each other that resonates. This is a remarkable achievement.
—— Publishers Weekly, starredWinn's finely accomplished debut novel is a rare thing, an intoxicating romance and an impossible-to-put-down war story in one . . . Winn captures the war as it looked, sounded, and smelled, but the ultimate death-defying acts here are in literature, breathtaking bravery, and love
—— Booklist, starredPowerful, deeply imagined . . . One of the wonderful aspects of Winn's debut is that, just when you think you've settled into a tender literary novel, its revelations and surprises begin to unfurl at an impressive pace that reads more like a thriller . . . Winn's battle scenes are hair-raising and terrifying, but her portraits of Sidney and Henry are intimate and evocative . . . A love story that's hard to forget
—— Kirkus Reviews, Starred ReviewAn epic sweep and an incredible intimacy that makes In Memoriam feel vividly alive...this is a book filled with death and suffering, but also with life and longing. War is hell, yes, but somehow love endures. You read it with your heart in your throat, and your knuckles white. The debut of the year.
—— iFast-paced and gripping, this debut brings fresh eyes to bear on the incomprehensible carnage that decimated a generation...a moving elegy for lost youth
—— Mail on SundayI'm still recovering from Alice Winn's phenomenal debut novel, and I know that many others will be feeling the same...Winn's characters will go down in literary history
—— nb. Magazinean impressive blend of madcap action, moving meditations on loss and some spicy sex scenes.
—— The TimesThis is my standout debut of the year: a page-turning, heart-thudding story of love and war that will burrow deep into your psyche.
—— Simon Mayo , iNewsCinematic in scope and emotionally intimate, it viscerally describes the violence of conflict, while beautifully capturing the brave hopefulness of the duo's relationship.
—— Daily MailIn Memoriam is utterly compelling. These young men live and love with a bright urgency, even as their world burns. Alice Winn has written one of the finest debut novels I have read in years. Her inventiveness, deftness of touch and command of period detail suggests this book marks the start of a truly first-rate career
—— Dan JonesFunny, poignant and beautifully observed
—— Jojo MoyesStraub writes beautifully and amusingly . . . hard to beat for sheer charm and gentle wit
—— Daily MailSmart and entertaining
—— StylistHugely talented . . . intelligent holiday reading
—— Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4Warm and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days
—— Maria Semple, bestselling author of Where'd You Go, BernadetteStraub writes with such verve and sympathetic understanding of her characters . . . Reading this novel has all the pleasures of reading one of Anne Tyler's compelling family portraits
—— New York TimesIt's the beautifully drawn, vibrant characters that make this smart, compelling novel so irresistible
—— Liane MoriartyA funny and insightful look at love and relationships
—— Good HousekeepingA smart, cool sensibility
—— ElleLovely, satisfying
—— EW.comSmart and fresh, offering new insights into the lives of people all around us
—— Brooklyn MagazineThoughtful and hilarious
—— Real SimpleIt would be easy to compare Straub to other masters of the genre like Meg Wolitzer or Jennifer Egan, but she's already a master in her own right
—— The MillionsEmma Straub is such a funny and brilliant writer and this time-travelling tale is a charming exploration of what it would be like to find yourself younger and surrounded by the people you love when they're still at the height of their power
—— StylistWise and often hilarious
—— BuzzfeedReaders will devour this witty and warmly satisfying novel
—— Publishers WeeklyA precise and observant writer whose supple prose carries the story along without a snag. Straub's characters are a quirky and interesting bunch . . . it's a pleasure spending time with them
—— Starred Review, KirkusDevilishly observed
—— Starred Review, BooklistSprinkled with humour and insight
—— Starred Review, Library JournalStraub is consistently excellent
—— Book Riot