The Unexpected - by Ellen Wiles (Paperback)

About the Book

'A heartwarming depiction of female friendship as a bond stronger than any other' The Times

'Wonderful... all sorts of common assumptions about motherhood and family are turned on their head. It's brilliant on friendship, identity, longing and resilience' Daily Mail

Book Synopsis

'A heartwarming depiction of female friendship as a bond stronger than any other' The Times

'Wonderful... all sorts of common assumptions about motherhood and family are turned on their head. It's brilliant on friendship, identity, longing and resilience' Daily Mail

'A thought-provoking and unputdownable story about the interconnectedness of female friendship, love, romance and family' My Weekly

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Kessie and Robin have been best friends since they were small. Now they've reached their mid-thirties, and biological clocks are ticking loudly. But Kessie is single, Robin's partner is ambivalent about trying for a baby, and single parenting sounds almost impossible.

When one of them gets pregnant, the other finds herself helping out to an extent that neither had expected. How far is a supportive friend supposed to go? What do you do when you feel like a mother to a child who isn't yours? Are there alternative ways to conceive of a family?

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A funny, addictive and poignant novel about what happens when the lines between friendship, romance, and family begin to blur. For fans of Meg Mason and Dolly Alderton.

'Funny and heartwarming' Closer

'Wiles writes with humour, tenderness and wisdom' Marianne Levy

'An intelligent, thought-provoking, tender and very real exploration of friendship, pregnancy and the changing face of modern parenting' Susannah Wise

'I didn't want this novel to end...offers a brutally honest portrait of motherhood in its joys and despairs. Radiant' Donna Freitas

'This novel reminds us that chosen families are as complicated, messy and thick with love as biological ones' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

'Original, thoughtful, stimulating and highly readable' Vesna Goldsworthy

Readers love Ellen Wiles

'Absorbed from page one' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A fantastic read. I was completely gripped throughout' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Communicates a difficult topic with incredible insight and poetic language. I became completely absorbed by the characters' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Loved the characters and the way the story was told through them' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review Quotes

'Loved this clever and funny novel' Anna Mazzola

'A heartwarming depiction of female friendship as a bond stronger than any other' The Times

'Wonderful... all sorts of common assumptions about motherhood and family are turned on their head. It's brilliant on friendship, identity, longing and resilience' Daily Mail

'A thought-provoking and unputdownable story' My Weekly

'This novel reminds us that chosen families are as complicated, messy and thick with love as biological ones.' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of The Sleepwatcher

'Moving and witty, smart and indelible on female friendship and chosen families' Rosie Dastgir, author of A Small Fortune

'Funny and heartwarming' Closer

'Wiles writes with humour, tenderness and wisdom' Marianne Levy

'Original, thoughtful, stimulating and highly readable' Vesna Goldsworthy

Praise for the author

'A book that makes you see the world differently' Jacinda Ardern, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

'A wonderful book - brilliantly vivid and human, and I was completely taken up by the story. The characters felt real and the depiction of the shadow world of refugees and how we regard them rang true.' Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council

'A fierce, big-hearted novel that celebrates the power of compassion and the resilience of the human spirit.' Joe Treasure, author of The Book of Air

'A sensitive, affecting novel' Francesca Rhydderch, author of The Rice Paper Diaries

'A deeply felt novel using a technique that literally 'gets behind the headlines' on asylum' Tim Finch, author of The House of Journalists

'A brilliant novel that gives voice to those often silenced or dispossessed' Paul Burston, author of The Black Path

'I absolutely loved it. It's beautifully written, fascinating, emotional, serious, brilliant'. Gemma Seltzer, author of Speak to Strangers

About the Author

Ellen Wiles grew up in Reading and did a music degree at Oxford before turning to human rights and working as a lawyer in Thailand, Botswana, Myanmar and London. Her debut novel, The Invisible Crowd, was inspired by a case she worked on as a barrister, and was a Guardian Readers' book of the year and winner of the Victor Turner Prize for ethnographic writing. She is also the author of Saffron Shadows (2015), a book about literature, censorship and culture in Myanmar. She is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter, and is the mother of two small children.