Recounting tales about her lecherous boss over drinks with her best friend Sally, media employee Verity Bell makes observations about the world of romance that correspond with every letter of the alphabet, from Ambition to Zest, and searches for her own true love. A first novel. Original.

The ABCs of Love

Romance

Salway, Sarah

Contemporary

Ballantine Books

“I galloped through this book–couldn’t stop once I’d started. The writing’s so spare and yet the message so complex. It’s spiky, sparky, pithy, and deep.” –Kate Long, author of The Bad Mother’s Handbook She didn’t mean to tell the story, or have it end that way. She just got a little . . . carried away. It has been several years since she confided in her teacher, and Molly Drayton is still feeling the aftershocks. But when a chance meeting with a stranger leads to an offer of a room in exchange for telling stories, Molly jumps at the chance. Slowly, she builds an eccentric new family: Tim, her secretive boyfriend, who just might be a spy; Miranda, the lovelorn hairstylist; Liz, the lusty librarian; and Mr. Roberts, a landlord who listens, and his wife who is that very wonderful thing, French. Much to Molly’s surprise, she finds that the stories she now tells are her key to creating a completely different life. Suddenly, her future is full of possibilities. The trouble is, Molly’s not the only one telling tales. Sarah Salway’s witty, finely tuned, and poignant novel is an utterly entrancing chronicle of a unique coming-of-age, capturing the imagination as it explores what we reveal to others, how honest we are with ourselves, and the consequences of trying to bridge fact and fiction. Praise for The ABCs of Love “An innovatively told and exquisitely written novel about friendship, love, and life that sneaks up on you with just how extraordinary it is.” –Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date “Charming and darkly funny.” –Marie Claire (UK)

Tell Me Everything: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

“Do you remember that first time we met? It was in the old studio in Brunson Road. How much did we miss, love, by not being together?” In the early 1960s, Maureen Griffiths, married with children, accompanies a friend to a modeling shoot, never intending to be in front of the camera herself. But after meeting photographer Martin Morris, Maureen is transformed—and Martin quickly falls for this simple, straightforward woman who calls herself Mo.    Forty years later, shortly after Maureen’s death, Martin moves into Pilgrim House, a retirement community, in part because Maureen’s husband, George, is also a resident there. Through letters he continues to write to Mo, Martin reveals a lifetime of tireless devotion to his one true love. He is also determined to figure out why Mo stayed with her difficult, demanding husband. So with the aid of some of the colorful residents of Pilgrim House, Martin delves into the secrets of Maureen’s family—and becomes increasingly entwined in the complicated life that Maureen built to shield herself.    Told through letters, emails, and other communications, Getting the Picture is an irresistible, charming novel of family secrets, regrets, and abiding love.

Getting the Picture: A Novel

Tell Me Everything

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

You Do Not Need Another Self-Help Book is Sarah Salway's first poetry collection. Her poems have won significant prizes in competitions organized by Poetry London, the Essex Poetry Festival and The New Writer, and have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, the Virago Book of Shopping, Mslexia, Pen International and Poetry London. Sarah is the current Canterbury Laureate, and author of three novels and a collection of short stories. Her website is www.sarahsalway.net In this stunning debut collection, imagination is indeed 'the single currency' as bankers burn stocks for fuel, Icarus's sister goes shopping, a muse talks back and God plays a prank on the worlds' backsides. Here too are poems that, with uncanny insights and a keen wit, expose the workings of the family, bearing witness not only to our epiphanies but to what fails to sustain us.

You Do Not Need Another Self-Help Book

Poetry

Pindrop Press

‘Do you remember that first time we met? It was in the old studio in Brunson Road. How much did we miss, love, by not being together?’    In the early 1960s, Maureen Griffiths, married with children, accompanies a friend to a modelling shoot, never intending to be in front of the camera herself. But after meeting photographer Martin Morris, Maureen is transformed – and Martin quickly falls for her.    It is forty years later. Shortly after Maureen’s death, Martin moves into Pilgrim House, a retirement home, in part because Maureen’s husband, George, is also a resident there. Through the letters he continues to write to Maureen, Martin reveals a lifetime of tireless devotion to his one true love. He is also determined to figure out why she stayed with her difficult, demanding husband. So with the aid of some of the colourful residents of Pilgrim House, Martin delves into the secrets of Maureen’s family and becomes increasingly entwined in the complicated life that Maureen built to shield herself.    Told through letters, emails, and other missives, Getting The Picture is an irresistible, funny and deeply moving novel of family secrets, regrets, and abiding love, with all the author’s sly wit and powers of observation on full display.  Getting The Picture is Dean Street Press's submitted title for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.  ‘Getting The Picture astutely probes the quotidian eeriness of that other planet that is old age and a life recollected. Marvelous.’ WILLIAM GIBSON    ‘The best novels seduce the reader, so allow the wonderful chorus of voices in Sarah Salway’s Getting The Picture to do just that. Let them whisper secrets, plans and mysteries; of the past, of the present. Let their possible futures come into focus for a celebratory final picture. This novel is uplifting, sinister and beautiful.’ TIFFANY MURRAY    ‘One of the smartest, wittiest writers of present times, and I recommend anything by her. Getting The Picture is just great. I couldn’t get through a page without smiling or laughing aloud... there is one photography session where an old man and woman meet with a camera between them that is riveting; Salway adds layers to it in the retelling, so that the poignancy of the event overtakes the humor. I can’t stop thinking about the state of mind of the 79 year old woman who lowers her shirt for the camera. All these old people still want to be seen, and to reveal themselves. Salway is a wonder at detail – small moments from all her books are permanently embedded in my mind. Don’t know how she does it, but it’s marvelous.’ ALICE ELLIOTT DARK    ‘Sarah Salway is an astonishingly smart writer. Her fiction is always beautifully structured, touching and clever. She manages the trick of creating characters you care about in stories you admire. I can’t wait to see what she does next.’ NEIL GAIMAN

Getting The Picture

Dean Street Press

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