The Beginner's Guide to Loneliness: 'Sweet, funny, engaging - and underneath the sparkle really rather wise. The perfect tonic for our times.' VERONICA HENRY

by Laura Bambrey

The perfect feel-good read from an exciting new voice in women's fiction, for fans of Heidi Swain, Cathy Bramley and Jenny Colgan.

Tori Williamson is alone. After a tragic event left her isolated from her loved ones, she's been struggling to find her way back to, well - herself. That's why she set up her blog, The Beginner's Guide to Loneliness, as a way of - anonymously - connecting with the outside world and reaching others who just need a little help sometimes.

When she's offered a free spot on a wellbeing retreat in exchange for a review on her blog, Tori is anxious about opening herself up to new surroundings. But after her three closest friends - who she talks to online but has never actually met - convince her it'll do her some good, she reluctantly agrees and heads off for three weeks in the wild (well, a farm in Wales).

From the moment she arrives, Tori is sceptical and quickly finds herself drawn to fellow sceptic Than, the retreat's dark and mysterious latecomer. But as the beauty of The Farm slowly comes to light she realizes that opening herself up might not be the worst thing. And sharing a yurt with fellow retreater Bay definitely isn't. Will the retreat be able to fix Tori? Or will she finally learn that being lonely doesn't mean she's broken . . .

Welcome to The Beginner's Guide to Loneliness! Where you can learn to move mountains by picking up the smallest of stones...

'Sweet, funny, engaging - and underneath the sparkle really rather wise. The perfect tonic for our times.' VERONICA HENRY, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Wedding at the Beach Hut

'A total hug in book form. Warm-hearted, honest and touching, it's a beautiful story of love and friendship. I loved it!' MIRANDA DICKINSON, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Day We Meet Again

'I LOVED it!' HEIDI SWAIN, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Secret Seaside Escape

'What a read - rollicking fun and emotionally satisfying!' MICHELE GORMAN, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Curvy Girls Club

'This book will leave you with a big smile' MANDY BAGGOT, author of My Greek Island Summer

'An absolute delight!' JUDY ASTLEY, author of It Must Have Been the Mistletoe

'Genuinely moving, beautifully told and really funny!' CHRISTINA PISHIRIS, author of Love Songs for Sceptics

'Funny, warm and brilliantly uplifting' CLAIRE FROST, author of Living My Best Life

'Getting drawn into the pages of The Beginners Guide to Loneliness is like being drawn into a big soothing hug, right when you need it. Full of warmth, depth and unexpected turns, plus a cast of characters I wish I knew in real life, Laura Bambrey has written a beautiful debut.' LUCY DICKENS, author of The Broken Hearts Honeymoon

'I absolutely devoured this wonderful story of friendship, romance and learning to love yourself. It was touching, funny and an utterly fabulous read' HOLLY MARTIN, author of Sunrise Over Sapphire Bay

'Although it's a love story, it's even more a tale of friendship - not just being a friend, but accepting friendship from others, which can be just as difficult . . . I recommend it most highly as a beautifully written guide as to how we should live our lives' T.A. WILLIAMS, author of Dreaming of Italy

• ISBN10: 1471195775
• ISBN13: 9781471195778
• Publish Date: 28 July 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Edition: Ebook Original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This is Laura’s debut book which was submitted to the Books and the City One Day Digital Originals programme. One of my favourite authors Hedi Swain was first published through this programme so I know that the Books and the City gang know how to pick fantastic authors.

The Beginners Guide to Loneliness is about Tori Williamson. Tori has had a lot of struggles and hurt in her life and has become very isolated. I really liked Tori. I had so much empathy for her and I felt like a lot of her feelings resonated with me. We all feel lonely from time to time and the way that Tori describes how you can be in a big crowd of people but still feel lonely was something I could really understand.

I loved The Farm. Lizzie and Ted are such lovely people and what they are trying to achieve is quite remarkable. I think we could all benefit from a little bit of time somewhere like The Farm to just switch off and really learn to enjoy the moment.

This book had some powerful themes of grief, guilt and betrayal. Laura does an excellent job of navigating these sensitive subjects and making you as the reader feel involved in the journey the characters take.

This is not a self help book but I came away feeling like it had touched some parts of me that are not often talked about. This book would make an excellent book club choice with lots of discussion points and areas to think about.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Booksand the City for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book.