Stepping Up: the joyful and emotional Sunday Times bestseller and Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2023. Adored by readers

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The instant Sunday Times bestselling debut from The Unmumsy Mum, rated 5-stars by readers. 'Marries comedy with deep and raw emotion. I loved it' Giovanna Fletcher 'Stop EVERYTHING and read this! Funny, tender and beautifully observed. Loved, loved, LOVED it!' Cathy Bramley, Sunday Times bestselling author Beth has never stuck at anything. She's quit more jobs and relationships than she can remember and she still sleeps in her childhood bedroom. It's not that she hasn't tried to grow up, it's just that so far, the only commitment she's held down is Friday drinks at the village pub. Then, in the space of a morning, her world changes. An unspeakable tragedy turns Beth's life upside down, and she finds herself guardian to her teenage niece and toddler nephew, catapulted into an unfamiliar world of bedtime stories, parents' evenings and cuddly elephants. Having never been responsible for anyone - or anything - it's not long before she feels seriously out of her depth. What if she's simply not up to the job With a little help from her best friend Jory (purely platonic, of course ...) and her lovely, lonely next-door neighbour, Albert, Beth is determined that this time she's not giving up. It's time to step up. This is a story about digging deep for strength you never knew you had and finding magic in things that were there all along.

Reviews

Humour and heart are everywhere in this book, and I went from laughter to tears in the turn of a page. Wise, joyful and very, very funny - this is a book to devour, a book to share and a book to savour. I loved it * Katie Marsh, author of UNBREAK YOUR HEART *
Stop EVERYTHING and read this! Funny, tender and beautifully observed. Loved, loved, LOVED it! * Cathy Bramley *
Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Full of warmth and Turner's perceptive parenting humour. This is a book that will break your heart and make you fall in love all at once! * Katy Colins, author of THE BEST IS YET TO COME *
What a fantastic read - it had me in tears! This book grabbed me by the heartstrings and didn't let go! It has it all - warmth, humour and brilliant observations on love, life and loss. An emotional rollercoaster of a read and one that is well worth taking! * Sarah Pearse, author of THE SANATORIUM *
Stepping Up is a heart-blasting triumph of a novel - wise, witty and wonderfully human. * Isabelle Broom, author of THE GETAWAY *

Author Bio

Sarah Turner lives in Devon with her husband and three sons. After graduating with first-class honours in Philosophy from The University of Exeter, she dabbled in careers in finance then higher education before a 'warts and all' parenting blog she'd started to let off steam gathered unexpected momentum and writing became her full-time job. She has since written three Sunday Times bestsellers- The Unmumsy Mum, The Unmumsy Mum Diary and The Unmumsy Mum A-Z. The Unmumsy Mum was voted number 4 in Amazon's Top 10 books of 2016 (as voted for by Amazon customers) and was also shortlisted for Book of the Year (non-fiction, lifestyle) at the 2017 British Book Awards. Stepping Up is Sarah's first novel, the spark of an idea coming from a conversation about will-writing and more specifically guardianship, should the unthinkable happen. Sarah likes bookshops, walks on Dartmoor (when the kids aren't whingeing) and pretends to like running, though she's started Couch to 5k three times and keeps ending up back on the couch. She doesn't like coffee, films with sharks in or writing about herself in the third person. You can follow Sarah's reading, writing and parenting adventures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@theunmumsymum).