Linda Newbery
Linda's first publication was a young adult novel, Run with the Hare, about a sixth-form student who becomes involved with an animal rights group. Since then she has gone on to publish widely for young readers of all ages, with titles including Lob, Set in Stone, The Shell House, Sisterland and The Key to Flambards. A non-fiction title, This Book is Cruelty-Free: Animals and Us, is a guide to compassionate living that looks at our daily choices - what we eat, wear, buy, use, waste and throw away - and how they affect animals and the environment.
Set in Stone was a Costa Book Award category winner, both The Shell House and Sisterland were shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, and Lob won an independent bookseller prize in Italy.
The One True Thing is Linda's second novel for adults. Her first, Quarter Past Two on a Wednesday Afternoon (published in paperback as Missing Rose) was a Radio 2 Book Club choice.
Linda lives in Oxfordshire. She is an active campaigner on animal and environmental issues and a keen amateur photographer.
The One True Thing
The Shell House
Set in Stone
Quarter Past Two on a Wednesday Afternoon
This Book is Cruelty Free
Set in Stone
Lob
Missing Rose
The One True Thing
When the ground shifts, where is one true thing to be found?
Jane, in her twenties, is left parentless when her father dies suddenly; a second shock follows when his Will reveals the existence of a son no-one knew of. Now Wildings, the family home, must be sold. Spanning two generations, the novel tells the story of Bridget, Jane’s mother, trapped in an unhappy marriage on which her career depends, and of stone-carver Meg, who wants only independence but is enmeshed in conflicting loyalties and desires when Adam, a young artist, enters their lives, to devastating effect.
Now far from Wildings, Meg is bound by a promise to support Jane in her loss. Having thought of herself as an observer who saw everything, she’s forced to realise how much she failed to see – and the cost to those she loves.
‘A beautifully complex tapestry of lives and relationships … a novel to immerse yourself in.’ Jane Rogers, author of Mr Wroe’s Virgins
‘Newbery writes wonderfully.’ Financial Times
Cover artwork and design by Owen Gent.
