Description
Book Synopsis‘Lauren Bravo is one of my very favourite writers’ Dolly Alderton Gwen is coasting through life. She’s in her mid-thirties, perpetually single, her friends are busy procreating in the countryside and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around the council’s wheelie-bin timetable.
And she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone? When she’s made redundant from a job she hardly cares about, she takes herself out for a fancy dinner. There she has the best sticky toffee pudding of her life and realises she has
no one to tell. She vows to begin living her life fully, reconnect with her friends and family, and finally book that dentist’s appointment.
Gwen decides to start where all things get a second chance: her local charity shop. There, with the help of the weird and wonderful people and donated items bursting with untold stories
Trade ReviewPreloved is one for your keeper shelves. * Red *
An absolute gem of a novel, like finding vintage Dior in your local chazza. It's hard to believe that this tender-hearted, wryly observed and exquisitely written story is a debut and its heroine Gwen, as lost as the unwanted donations she prices up, will resonate with so many readers. Preloved is one for your keeper shelves. -- Sarra Manning
I think I’ve been waiting for a novel like Preloved for my whole reading life. This is a luscious, shimmering book of depth and delicacy. It’s sad, hilarious, sad, tender, brutal, brilliantly observed – there is a sense of magic on every page. -- Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable
Preloved is full of sharp observations on life, loss, regret and self-preservation... spilling over with wit and hope. Cleverly interwoven with stories of the myriad reasons items find their way into charity shops, the joy, friendship and ultimate enlightenment Gwen discovers offers a
quirky and poignant reminder that one person's trash is always somebody else's treasure. -- Julietta Henderson, author of The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman
Preloved has taken up residence in my heart and I will be recommending it to everyone I know. It's completely enchanting, completely captivating, completely brilliant, I adored everything about it. It has so much heart and warmth, while Gwen is so well-written and relatable. I was already a fan of Lauren Bravo's writing, and now
I'm officially obsessed. -- Lucy Vine
Laugh-out-loud funny but also poignant and tender, Preloved is an absorbingly special debut novel. I devoured in equal measure the delicious descriptions of food and the moving vignettes of preloved treasures peppered throughout the book, while the nineties and noughties nostalgia had me gasping with pleasure. -- Laura Price, author of Single Bald Female
Full of relatable anecdotes, lively, funny and modern, Preloved is a moving tale of emancipation and friendship. I loved it! -- Margaux Vialleron, author of The Yellow Kitchen
Beautifully considered and wonderfully crafted with characters who feel true to life. Full of witty observations and dazzling retorts and withering reactions… it won’t disappoint. -- Justin Myers/The Guyliner
Preloved is a beautiful, funny novel full of pitch perfect insight and detail. In a world of fast fashion, fast friendships and fast opinion, this is a refreshing and relatable alternative, celebrating and challenging our ideas about objects and ownership. For anyone (like me) who has ever stood behind the counter of a charity shop, it will spark particular joy. Political, delightful and very very funny.
-- Nell Frizzell
