‘Four Weddings and a Funeral meets One Day…I couldn’t put it down.’ 5-star reader review

‘I haven’t read a book this delightful in a long time.’ 5-star reader review

Zoe, Al, Rachel, Rob, Yas and Indie. Six friends who were inseparable at university, who have all had their secret or not so secret passions for each other, their hopes and fears.

Over the years, they have gone their separate ways. Rob is a history teacher, with a string of broken relationships behind him. Yas is a surgeon and very much her own woman. Indie is married and a successful coffee entrepreneur. Rachel is a stay at home mum with two children. Al, widowed young, is about to take over his father’s funeral business.

When Rob’s engagement party throws the gang together once more, some passions are reignited, old connections and resentments resurface. Over the next twelve months, there will, among the friends, be a birth, a marriage, and a death – but whose?

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES is an era-spanning, globe-trotting novel about love, friendship, and how to stay at least relatively sane in an ever crazier world. It’s about a group of friends growing older, the possibility of second chances, about kindness and joy. It’s about births, deaths, marriages… and everything in between.

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PRAISE for BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES:
‘I loved Births, Deaths and Marriages. Laura’s ability to jump between so many different lives and to keep those strands alive in the reader’s mind reminded me of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors‘ Georgina Moore

‘Wonderful…beautifully written, superbly characterized and so truthful’ Elizabeth Buchan

‘A book to sink into… a nuanced, compelling and comforting read that reminds us about the power, support and importance of found family’ Kate Sawyer

‘A compelling tale about love and friendship in all its guises. Her exquisite line by line writing and astute character observations held me rapt‘ Lucy Clarke

READERS LOVE BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES:

‘An emotional, heartfelt book about the joys and sorrows of life. It is about love in all its forms, the friendships that shape us, and the quiet moments that define who we become.’

‘Relatable, funny, moving and hopeful. Births, Deaths and Marriages is a fantastic read that reminded me of Cold Feet and deals with the themes of feeling unsure in your life, grief and moving forward beautifully.’

‘Wow! Just wow! A book for anyone who has loved, for anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, for anyone who has contemplated or been married, for every parent, indeed, for anyone who has lived.‘

‘A hugely enjoyable novel which celebrates the durability of friendships that have weathered the storm of growing up.’

???????’Reminiscent of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Notting Hill’

‘Immersive and thought-provoking . . . captures the nuances of human relationships-the tension, the tenderness, the misunderstandings, and the unbreakable bonds that endure despite time and distance.’

‘With its perfect blend of humour, poignancy, and authenticity, this novel will resonate with anyone who’s ever experienced the joys and challenges of close relationships.‘

‘Highly addictive and incredibly comforting. Exquisite storytelling written in a way that gives you all the feels from incredible sadness to raucous laughter. These are a bunch of friends I won’t forget in a hurry!’

At forty-three, Christina Lennox thought her future was settled: marriage to Ed, children, a house of their own.

But this is not that future: her marriage has ended, fractured by the stress of five rounds of IVF and two miscarriages. Overwhelmed by grief and disappointment, Ed has relocated to San Francisco and Christina’s dream of becoming a mother rests on persuading him to let her go ahead with one final round of IVF, using the last frozen embryo they have stored at the clinic.

But when Ed drops a bombshell that threatens to undo everything Christina has strived for, she is forced, once again, to realign her plans: is this the end of her dream, or an opportunity to consider a different – perhaps happier – version of her future?

Twelve people
Twelve gifts
One Christmas to remember

Maddy runs the bookshop on Market Square. She’s struggling to choose a gift (a watch? a wine subscription? a weekend bag? all too much?) for her old school friend Peter, who’s just moved back from London following a messy divorce.

Peter doesn’t have a clue what to get for his teenage daughter Chloe – furious with her mother, she’s decided to up sticks and move to Kent with him, but he worries that he really doesn’t know her at all.

Chloe wants to buy something special for her grandmother Irene, who lives alone on the other side of town.

Irene doesn’t get out much these days, but she’d really like to find the right gift for Alina, who’s so much more than a carer, really – always stops to chat for a bit, have a cup of tea, even if it makes her late.

And Alina, meanwhile, has her eye on something for…

From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us comes a novel about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort.

‘He felt it: the lightness, the expansiveness, the anticipation, the sense that something good was coming. And it was, wasn’t it – though the world was still licking its collective wounds and there was still suffering everywhere, suffering and loneliness and sadness. Despite all this, it was good: it was kindness, it was giving without thought of recompense, it was light in the darkness’

‘It was up to her now; everything was up to her;
she needed only to make a choice and step towards it,
out from the shadows and into the light.’

At forty-three, Christina Lennox thought her future was settled: marriage to Ed, children, a house of their own.

But this is not that future: her marriage has ended, fractured by the stress of five rounds of IVF and two miscarriages. Overwhelmed by grief and disappointment, Ed has relocated to San Francisco and Christina’s dream of becoming a mother rests on persuading him to let her go ahead with one final round of IVF, using the last frozen embryo they have stored at the clinic.

But when Ed drops a bombshell that threatens to undo everything Christina has strived for, she is forced, once again, to realign her plans.

Is this the end of her dream, or an opportunity to consider a different – perhaps happier – version of her future?

Twelve people
Twelve gifts
One Christmas to remember

Maddy runs the bookshop on Market Square. She’s struggling to choose a gift (a watch? a wine subscription? a weekend bag? all too much?) for her old school friend Peter, who’s just moved back from London following a messy divorce.

Peter doesn’t have a clue what to get for his teenage daughter Chloe – furious with her mother, she’s decided to up sticks and move to Kent with him, but he worries that he really doesn’t know her at all.

Chloe wants to buy something special for her grandmother Irene, who lives alone on the other side of town.

Irene doesn’t get out much these days, but she’d really like to find the right gift for Alina, who’s so much more than a carer, really – always stops to chat for a bit, have a cup of tea, even if it makes her late.

And Alina, meanwhile, has her eye on something for…

From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us comes a novel about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort.

‘He felt it: the lightness, the expansiveness, the anticipation, the sense that something good was coming. And it was, wasn’t it – though the world was still licking its collective wounds and there was still suffering everywhere, suffering and loneliness and sadness. Despite all this, it was good: it was kindness, it was giving without thought of recompense, it was light in the darkness’