‘An incredibly important and beautifully written book. ‘A triumph … a book of hope and ambition and making sense of the world, a tale of acting spontaneously, living in the moment and throwing caution to the wind’ Isabella May, author of Oh! What a Pavlova ‘Some books teach you, others touch your soul, then there are books like this one that bury deep and create a home in your heart’ Emma-Claire Wilson, Glass House Magazine ‘Darkly funny, yet poignant and moving … Rachel’s quest to find out if everything happens for a reason is both heartbreaking and heartwarming’ Anna Bell, author of In Case You Missed It I just loved it’ Louise Beech, author of This Is How We Are Human ‘A beautiful novel, bursting with raw emotional honesty and authenticity’ Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she’d stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she’s now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.ĭesperate to find him, she enlists an unlikely ally in Lola, an Underground worker, and Lola’s seven-year-old daughter, Josephine, and eventually tracks him down, with completely unexpected results…īoth a heart-wrenchingly poignant portrait of grief and a gloriously uplifting and disarmingly funny story of a young woman’s determination, Everything Happens for a Reason is a bittersweet, life- affirming read and, quite simply, unforgettable. When a misguided well-wisher tells her that “everything happens for a reason”, she becomes obsessed with finding that reason, driven by grief and convinced that she is somehow to blame.

Her son, Luke, was stillborn and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss.

Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. ‘A heartbreaking, deeply moving and wonderfully witty tale, which celebrates all it means to be human’ Isabelle Broom, author of The Getaway ‘A stunning debut … a wise, moving, and thought-provoking novel’ Susan Elliot Wright, author of The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood ‘Emotionally engaging, witty, clever and wonderfully satisfying’ Daily Express An unforgettable, heart-wrenching, warm and funny debut… When Rachel’s baby is stillborn, she becomes obsessed with the idea that saving a stranger’s life months earlier is to blame.

Oh! What a Pavlova by Isabella May