Sweet Sorrow

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'That most rare and coveted of literary feats: a popular novel of serious merit, a bestseller that will also endure.' Observer

'Triumph ... the sense of nostalgia is visceral and intense, almost time-bending.' The Sunday Times

'Pitch perfect ... Exquisite ... Terrific ... Very funny ... Though Sweet Sorrow is certainly pulse-quickening enough to absorb readers through this summer's airport delays and rained-off beach days, it's no escapist fantasy. The tale of Charlie and Fran will linger long beyond your tan.' Telegraph

One life-changing summer
Charlie meets Fran...

In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his father, when surely it should be the other way round, and if he thinks about the future at all, it is with a kind of dread.

Then Fran Fisher bursts into his life and despite himself, Charlie begins to hope.

But if Charlie wants to be with Fran, he must take on a challenge that could lose him the respect of his friends and require him to become a different person. He must join the Company. And if the Company sounds like a cult, the truth is even more appalling.

The price of hope, it seems, is Shakespeare.

Poignant, funny, enchanting, devastating, Sweet Sorrow is a tragicomedy about the rocky path to adulthood and the confusion of family life, a celebration of the reviving power of friendship and that brief, searing explosion of first love that can only be looked at directly after it has burned out.

'A compassionate, intelligent look at the raw pain and loneliness of a teenage boy, the everyday miracle of first love and the perennial power of Shakespeare's language.' Spectator

'A superbly written, beautifully observed account of teenage life, love, family dysfunction and friendship, which builds to a stunningly poignant ending.' Heat

'The author of Us and of course One Day has never written with more tenderness and insight than in this bittersweet story ... perfectly captures the dizzying highs and lows of first love.' Daily Express

'Such a beautiful book. Captures perfectly a moment in time we've all experienced.' Graham Norton

The major new novel from David Nicholls.Very funny and heart wrenchingly tender.Here he proves that he can still pull off that most rare and coveted of literary feats: a popular novel of serious merit, a bestseller that will also endureThis is Nicholls' talent - what really sets this story apart is the dialogue: funny, telling, laughter-inducing, he's hard to beat.He's such a genius. His novels are relatable and recognizable, but also surprising, breath-taking and life-enhancing.A classic coming of age novel with universal truths teased out with remarkable perception.Affirms once again Nicholls' talent for unearthing the special in the ordinary.Full of the joy and pain of first love, fans who fell for bestseller One Day, ten years ago, won't be disappointed.A big-hearted book with wonderful set-pieces ... beautifully funny and touching ... his books always seem as fresh as they are wise and funny.This is Nicholls' talent - what really sets this story apart is the dialogue: funny, telling, laughter-inducing, he's hard to beat.I don't think anyone writing right now captures youth and adolescence better; I'm not sure anyone even gets close.Such a beautiful book. Captures perfectly a moment in time we've all experienced.Written with great comic panache and generosity of spirit, it is Nicholls' most mature and compelling novel so farNicholls' literary talents are impressive . . . the sense of nostalgia is visceral and intense, almost time-bending.It's just perfect in every way.A book that will find its way into your heart and set up home... this story perfectly captures the awkwardness and poignancy of first loveFunny, engaging and moving, another triumph from the brilliant David Nicholls.A compassionate, intelligent look at the raw pain and loneliness of a teenage boy, the everyday miracle of first love and the perennial power of Shakespeare's languageSweet Sorrow is a funny, affectionate exploration of first loveIf ever there was an author perfect to take with you on holiday (so to speak), it's David Nicholls'Astutely observed, and almost painfully nostalgic, Sweet Sorrow reads like a true story.It's everything a story should be. Beautiful and clear and heartfelt, and it will do what all brilliant stories do: it will find the very pinpoint of who you are and it will stay there.A master of the bittersweet coming-of-age novelPitch perfect ... Exquisite ... Terrific ... Very funny ... Though Sweet Sorrow is certainly pulse-quickening enough to absorb readers through this summer's airport delays and rained-off beach days, it's no escapist fantasy. The tale of Charlie and Fran will linger long beyond your tanNicholls perfectly captures the dizzying highs and lows of first loveNo other writer breaks my heart and then partially bandages it back together quite like Nicholls does. Sweet Sorrow is an absolute must-readAdrian Mole meets The Swish Of The Curtain in this lovely coming-of-age romcom about acting and the class divideFull of wisdom, poignancy and laughs.Interesting, moving, hilarious and sad at the same timeA funny, relatable coming-of-age storyA superbly written, beautifully observed account of teenage life, love, family dysfunction and friendship, which builds to a stunningly poignant endingA classic coming of age novel with universal truths teased out with remarkable perceptionNo one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he doesA delicious, pensive summer readPiercingly observant, gloriously funny and achingly sad, this is David Nicholls' best book yetOnce again, he has pulled off that "most rare and coveted of literary feats": a popular novel that will also endure.Sweet Sorrow manages to be interesting, moving, hilarious and sad at the same time. I know when my heartstrings are being pulled, but tugged they assuredly werePiercingly observant, gloriously funny and achingly sad, this is David Nicholls' best book yetA glorious escape to the sunlit uplands of the 1990s, where a teenager first finds loveFunny and nostalgic tale of first loveEagerly anticipated and did not disappointCapturing nostalgia for long endless summers as well as for the strangeness that is friendships among those cast together in a play... a beautiful coming of age storyI'm not sure there has ever been a better book to read while by the sea. The nostalgia, the humour, the deep understanding of adolescent love and indeed the sorrow. It's such a brilliant book.A witty and tender evocation of young loveA devastatingly honest exploration of first love, razor-sharp reflections on friendship - oh, and some snort out loud funny momentsDavid Nicholls is that rarest of literary creatures: a genuinely brilliant, genuinely popular novelist. His latest, Sweet Sorrow (Hodder & Stoughton), is more than just poignant and warm and funny. There are piercing apercus and writing that's both precise and poetic, lyrical and toughDavid Nicholls . . . writes with such humanity and makes me laugh out loudDavid Nicholls [is] again on top form with Sweet Sorrow...a gorgeous tribute to young love...and it's got plenty of humour tooA superbly written, beautifully observed account of teenage life, love, family dysfunction and friendship, which builds to a stunningly poignant endingWritten with great comic panache and generosity of spirit, it is Nicholls' most mature and compelling novel so farPoignant and insightfulIf ever there was an author perfect to take with you on holiday (so to speak), it's David Nicholls'Here he proves that he can still pull off that most rare and coveted of literary feats: a popular novel of serious merit, a bestseller that will also endurePraise for David NichollsNicholls's gift is character. There is a sharp empathetic intelligence to his writing that makes his characters real . . . the clear writing often dazzles with truth . . . sad funny, soulfulDavid has a sublime talent for illuminating the murky causeway that most of us have to navigate between darkness and lightNicholls writes with such tender precision about loveVery funny and heart wrenchingly tender.No other writer breaks my heart and then partially bandages it back together quite like Nichollsdoes. Sweet Sorrow is an absolute must-readInteresting, moving, hilarious and sad at the same timeA classic coming of age novel with universal truths teased out with remarkable perceptionSweet Sorrow is a funny, affectionate exploration of first loveA compassionate, intelligent look at the raw pain and loneliness of a teenage boy, the everyday miracle of first love and the perennial power of Shakespeare's language