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When she grew up, Ruth would say that she could place the day that her mother had decided to go awayShe didn’t know the actual date, but she recalled the occasion: it was on the afternoon of a wet day, early in 1942, during a visit to the cinema. She thought she could even pinpoint the exact moment at which Iris had made up her mind to go, leaving her only child behind. Neither of them could have guessed then that they would never live together again.Spanning the second half of the last century, ‘My Former Heart’, Cressida Connolly’s mesmerising first novel, charts the lives of three generations of Iris’s family. Ruth will be deserted again, many years later, by a husband she loves, but not before she has had two children by him. She leaves London to live with her uncle, where she creates a new life for herself with another woman. And we follow the lives of her two children, trying to make a place for themselves in the world in the shadow of the family that precedes them.With its large cast of fascinating characters, this is an outstanding novel about families and their ability to adapt. It surely marks the beginning of a long career as a novelist for Cressida Connolly.

Want what she's got? Think again…A high-concept and heartfelt romantic comedy for everyone who’s ever fancied swapping lives.A more unlikely pairing you'd struggle to find, but Roxy Galloway and Ginny Wallis have been there for each other ever since they were five years old and Roxy beat up Kevin Smith for putting gum in Ginny's hair. Even though Roxy is now living the high life in London and Ginny is still at home in sleepy Farnham Hills, the bond is as deep as it ever was.But after her latest romantic disaster, Roxy decides she needs a city de-tox – no more London, no more reception work at high-class brothel The Seismic Lounge (guaranteed to make the earth move) and definitely no more men.Ginny's so far in a rut she needs a pair of Roxy's thigh-high boots to clamber out. Dating Andrew for 12 long years and stamping books at the local library, she's craving a walk on the wild side.So they swap lives.For Ginny, it's a whirl of champagne and parties in the lap of luxury. For Roxy, it's a case of terminal boredom in the local pub. But the strangest things can happen in the most unlikely of places…The perfect summer read to take with you on holiday or out into the sunshine. For fans of Debbie Johnson, Katie Fforde and The Note.