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This deft and moving debut offers more than Seventies nostalgia
"i-newspaper
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Remarkably assured…shrewdly observed…pitch-perfect
"The Independent
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A new novelist whose next book you are already impatient to read
"The Guardian
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Boldly plotted and confidently executed, its momentum maintained to the end
"Daily Mail
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The genius of this novel is the gentle way that the mysteries of the narrative unfold, fully immersing you in the story… it has a heart and soul
"We Love This Book
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Nostalgic and moving
"Woman and Home
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The suspense simply builds and builds
"Essentials
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Jubilee is an assured debut by a writer of great promise. It’s a sharply-written account of the birth pangs of multicultural Britain
"Marcel Theroux
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So compelling that I couldn’t put it down. This is an exceptional, arresting novel
"Clare Morrall
Shelley's latest news
Don’t Panic 15th, April 2013
Stories release us from the limitations of our ordinary lives. They process the complexities of existence, they entertain, they counsel and console. And sometimes, they save us. I was fourteen and the world was going to end. Four minutes, that was all we’d have, and then we’d be atomised: nothing between us and the bomb except a stupid understairs cupboard or a stupid kitchen table. Every time the Soviet Union and the States went head to head over Afghanistan, say, or Nicaragua, it meant High Wycombe [...]
Fashion! (Turn To The Left) 20th, March 2013
I will not lie, I love dressing up. I love colour and texture; I’m a sucker for embellishment, embroidery and beads. I love over-the-knee boots and necklaces that look like breastplates. In my less confident days I dressed to be ignored (a face-covering fringe as a teenager, dark colours so I could blend in), but I don’t feel like that any more. Dressing up is fun, and (teenage angst aside) we’ve always done it. But fashion has a shameful, albeit hugely successful, history as a means [...]
Welcome to my website, where you can find out a bit more about me, or about my debut novel Jubilee. If you’d like to come to an event you’ll find a list here, and if you’d like to get in touch, that would be brilliant – there’s a contact form right here. I blog from time to time about anything that takes my fancy, bookish or otherwise. Alternatively, you could follow me on Twitter, where I’ll keep you updated with literary insights such as how many cups of tea I’ve had so far today, and what’s on Radio 4.
This months background photo is credited to St Anne's Parish Church, Corstorphine and was supplied by Keith Rennie