A Short Road to Longbrook

Name: A Short Road to Longbrook
Brand: Penguin Random House NZ
SKU: 9781784746025
Price: 28.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Bethan Roberts

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Brief Description

A tender novel of mothers and daughters and the secrets they keep from each other, from the author of the mega-bestseller My Policeman. A tender story of mothers, daughters and breaking family patterns, from the author of the bestseller My Policeman, which became the hit film... Read More

Format: Paperback / softback

$28⁰⁰

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~~$38⁰⁰~~

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A Short Road to Longbrook

$28⁰⁰

Elsewhere:

~~$38⁰⁰~~

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Description

A tender novel of mothers and daughters and the secrets they keep from each other, from the author of the mega-bestseller My Policeman.

A tender story of mothers, daughters and breaking family patterns, from the author of the bestseller My Policeman, which became the hit film starring Harry Styles.

When Winnie is happy, Lillian is happy, too.

It's the mid-1960s and Lillian Wells is a clever teenager with a daring pixie cut, tangerine mini-dress and new boyfriend, Jim, who works at the brewery. Even better, he lives across the road, so she's never far from her bee-hived, high-heeled single mother Winnie, who is prone to attacks of the nerves.

But Lillian harbours secret dreams of going to art school in London. When she gets in, how will she tell her mother - and Jim - that she's leaving Abingdon - and them?

Forty years later, Lillian's own daughter Rachel is heading off to university, but Lillian is not sure either of them are ready. She sees herself and Winnie in Rachel, who is ambitious and intelligent, but also prone to nervous habits.

As Lillian tries to bite her tongue about Rachel's symptoms, she is reminded of what everyone in Abingdon used to say: It's a short road to Longbrook... the local institution for the mentally ill. Lillian knows this is all too true, but in a family where secrets run through generations like the rushing waters of the local river, can she bring herself to break the cycle and tell Rachel the truth about her past?

'Roberts is an exceptionally tender and empathetic writer' - Grazia

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781784746025

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 March 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Chatto & Windus

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 40.0mm

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 600g

Pages: 384

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About the Author

Bethan Roberts has published five novels and writes stories and drama for BBC Radio 4. Her books include The Good Plain Cook, which was a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime; My Policeman, the story of a 1950s policeman, his wife, and his male lover (now a major Amazon Original movie starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin); Mother Island, which received a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered prize; and Graceland, which tells the story of Elvis Presley and his mother, Gladys. She also writes short fiction, for which she has won the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Prize and the RA Pin Drop Award. Bethan has taught Creative Writing at Chichester University and Goldsmiths College, London. She lives in Brighton with her family.

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