When Kate discovers emails from her husband Adam - aka 'Prince Charming' - to another woman, she takes a long look at her long marriage. And once she starts, she finds all kinds of things she had been doing her level best not to see.
As her home life unravels, Kate's work - at a global hotel company - and her nightmare boss become increasingly demanding. She wants to protect her young girls, but her own foundations have been knocked away. Who was the man with whom she spent all those years?
Told with warmth and lightness, even as it also mines real depths of sorrow, Lover is a novel about the hand that life can deal you, and how to play it with grace. Beautifully observed, full of wisdom, poetry and humour, it asks what it means to be true in all things, and in so doing, how to live.
PRAISE FOR SIGNS OF LIFE
"Anna Raverat's assured debut is told in fragments ... The book works as both a suspenseful psychological thriller and a sophisticated meditation on the act of writing" The Independent
"Will have you reading till 3 a.m." Psychologies
"Classy and accomplished" Guardian
Industry Reviews
The elegantly drawn portrait of a woman who alternates between anger, hope, despair, and acceptance is a familiar one . . . Kate is a memorable character, rooted in a story as old as the hills yet still on point today. * Booklist * Real, delicious summer reading, one for your suitcase, but with the bite of truthfulness . . . telling the story of a husband's adulterous affair with unflinching truthfulness but also wit and generosity of spirit. A wise novel with values that is also elegantly written and a gripping read -- Maggie Gee * Observer New Review * Full of elegant prose and emotional insight . . . With grace and humour, she immerses the reader in Kate's psychological disorientation . . . As an anatomy of a broken marriage, Lover is a skilfully observed, evocative and affecting novel * Observer * Perceptive, insightful and engrossing * Sunday Express * A wise, honest and funny portrait of a marriage * Fabulous * Brave * Daily Mail * Anyone who has had heartbreak will wince at moments in this raw portrait of a marriage . . . Skillfully written and powerful * Sunday Mirror * A sad and funny novel . . . brilliantly skewers the insanities and inanities of the corporate workplace * Stylist * 'Fans of BBC drama Doctor Foster will devour this gripping tale of marital disintegration . . . The writing is simply beautiful - moving and evocative, while skewering cliches about broken hearts and revenge. It's also the funniest book about a break-up you'll ever read, with a brilliant supporting cast of characters * Glamour * I wept through Lover by Anna Raverat. It's written with such a light touch, but is so piercing and so true. -- Liza Klaussmann, author of Tigers In Red Weather This is one of the most bittersweet, searing books about a break up we've ever read. * Cosmopolitan * Wise and subtle and witty . . . filled with humanity and warmth. A compulsively readable book about a breakup from a brilliant new writer -- Maggie Gee Raverat mines the depth of this strife with wit, warmth and a sophisticated wisdom that makes it an unputdownable read. * Psychologies * A detailed observation of love, work and life told through a woman's crumbling marriage. The first-person voice is so compelling, it almost reads like a thriller. Addictive * Bookseller * Anna Raverat is a humane and generous writer, giving voice to our best instincts and communicating, by quiet and often funny moments, a sense of our ability to overcome adversity with love. -- Chris Cleave
