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Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9780349013770

Price: £14.99

ON SALE: 1st April 2021

Genre: Fiction & Related Items / Crime & Mystery

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‘An absolute belter of a page-turner’ HEAT

‘A fantastic book club choice’ PRIMA


Would you have a baby for your daughter?

Ruth has the life she always wanted – stellar career, loving family, beautiful home – but now, with an empty nest, and heading towards 55, she feels restless. Then her daughter is told that she will never be able to conceive, and Ruth discovers that, with the right dose of hormones, she could carry a child for her daughter.

At first Ruth is buoyed with a new sense of purpose, but her daughter can’t contain her corrosive envy, and then long-buried secrets from the past resurface. What begins a simple gift becomes something darker and more complicated – and something for which Ruth is willing to risk everything…

‘Gripping’ COSMOPLITAN

‘Full of drama . . . as much about womanhood as it is about motherhood’ GUARDIAN

‘Compulsive’ KATE HAMER

‘Clever and compelling. I loved it’ JANE SHEMILT

What's Inside

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Reviews

A fascinating, compulsive and quietly transgressive novel that casts a keen, exacting eye over the dynamics of a family in extremis
Jessica Moor, author of Keeper
A visceral and intimate study of the mechanics of womanhood, both physically and emotionally, which will leave you asking questions about yourself and how far love stretches. I especially loved the ending
Araminta Hall
A darkly humorous, thoughtful and thought provoking novel, along with being an absolute "up all night" compulsive read. I loved it
Kate Hamer
Dark and twisty
Natasha Harding, The Sun
Full of drama . . . As much about womanhood as it is about motherhood
Guardian
A brilliantly structured, fast-paced and addictively compelling read. I loved the ending most of all
Rachel Joyce
A piercingly honest view of the flesh and blood of women's lives and the imperfect tangles of family relationships. These real, believable and maddeningly blind characters make us feel for them more and more as the story gathers pace towards a brilliant heart-stopping conclusion
Maggie Gee
[A] gripping exploration of femininity and motherhood
Deirdre O'Brien, Best
A gripping read. I found it hard to put down. Addresses issues of self-identity and how it is shaped by our fertility, which as a woman, mother, and author researching and writing about women's fertility and bodies, I found fascinating
Dr Pragya Agarwal
There is nowhere near enough writing out there about how women truly experience the conflicting marvels and challenges of living inside a female body, even less about the menopause. Transgressive and gripping, this book reminds us that we disregard women over fifty at our peril
Gabriel Weston
A fantastic book club choice, this will spark debate and discussions aplenty. After multiple rounds of failed IVF, Lauren and her husband feel completely deflated, so when Lauren's 54-year-old mother, Ruth, offers to be a surrogate, it seems perfect. Compelling
Nina Pottell, Prima
Unsparingly probes to the messy heart of mother/ daughter relationships. Clever and compelling. I loved it
Jane Shemilt
Compulsively readable, Surrogate takes an interesting look at the complex and sometimes murky world of surrogacy and raises questions about issues to which there are no simple answers
Mernie Gilmore, Daily Record
Moving and exciting and moral - immensely intelligent
Tessa Hadley
Both a thoughtful read exploring mother-daughter relationships, marriage and ageing, and an absolute belter of a page-turner. One to tell all your friends about
Caroline Robb, Heat