**Selected as a 2017 Book of the Year in the Financial Times**

'A very smart, soulful, compelling, elegantly written domestic novel' Nick Hornby

In a Victorian terraced house, in north-west London, two families unite in imperfect harmony. After five years of widowhood, Julia is deeply, unexpectedly in love. If only her beloved daughter, Gwen, didn't hate James so much. At the very least, she could be civil to his son, Nathan. Bringing together two households was never going to be easy, but Gwen's struggle for independence, and the teenagers' unexpected actions, will threaten Julia's new happiness.

The Awkward Age is about the blended family; about starting over and the attempt to build something beautiful amid the mess and complexity of what came before. It is a story about standing by the ones we love, even while they hurt us. We would do anything to make our children happy, wouldn't we?