All the Good Things - Softcover

Fisher, Clare

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1609455177 ISBN 13: 9781609455170

Publisher: Europa Editions, 2019

Synopsis

A 2018 Betty Trask Award Winner

Beth has done something awful. Something that has led to her arrest. Something that has convinced her she is a fundamentally bad person.

Beth is also a sympathetic and amusing narrator. At the urging of her counselor, she begins to make a list of all the good things that have happened to her. It’s difficult at first, as she was abandoned by her mother and shuffled from one foster home to another. Hers is a life that veered from a brilliantly artistic childhood to rough boyfriends and thankless jobs.

As she writes, however, she begins to understand that every life has moments of peace, friendship, and triumph. From sharing silence with someone she loves, to feeling so happy it hurts, she begins to see her life―and herself―anew. She must acknowledge the act that sent her to jail, and confront the question: is there a chance for her redemption?

Clare Fisher has written a captivating portrait of an irrepressible young woman living on the margins and of the failure of society to protect its most vulnerable members. It is also a story of hope. It champions the belief that no life can be distilled to a single act, and that the people we are quickest to judge often have the most complex and heartbreaking stories to tell.

About this title

About the Author

Clare Fisher is a creative writing teacher and editorial consultant with a BA in History from the University of Oxford and an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her award-winning short fiction has been published in anthologies and in her recent collection, How The Light Gets In. She lives in Leeds. All the Good Things is her first novel.

Review

Praise for All The Good Things

“An unsettling debut with a tremendous power to move and disturb.”
―The Guardian

“The hints of the ‘bad thing’ that she did keep the reader hooked until the end, where we realise that certain women, no matter how hard they fight, have the odds stacked against them.”
―The Independent

“A moving, compassionate account of someone struggling hard for redemption.”
―Sunday Times

“A raw, vivid story that clutches at the heart and squeezes tightly.”
―Sunday Express

“Heartfelt, heartbreaking, and genuinely joyous.”
―Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

“A heartbreaking, vital and seamless insight into a life that might otherwise be ignored or judged. The voice of Bethany is perfect - compelling, whip-smart and deeply affecting.”
―Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals

About this edition

• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1609455177
• ISBN 13: 9781609455170
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240