Title: Single Bald FemaleAuthor: Laura Price
Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jun. 14, 2022
Genres: Women's Fiction
Pages: 416
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publishers Group Canada
Book Rating: 10/10
At thirty-one, Jessica Jackson has it all – the career she’s worked so hard for, the loving boyfriend and a cosy London flat they share with their cat. But a shock diagnosis turns Jess’s world upside down, and her contented life implodes with it.
As Jess juggles her career with chemo, and learns that her perfect boyfriend isn’t quite so perfect after all, her friends’ lives continue to follow the script – the ‘I said yes’ Facebook announcements, the big white weddings and the baby scans. Worrying that she’ll be left behind, she turns to online dating as she figures out what the future holds.
In the midst of it all, she meets Annabel, an enigmatic, enchanting twenty-seven-year-old, with incurable cancer. But while Annabel may be nearing the end of her life, she understands much more about living than anyone Jess has ever met. And Annabel is determined to show Jess how to make every day count . . .
Frank, funny and poignant, Single Bald Female is a completely unforgettable story of love and friendship.
Review:
Poignant, absorbing, and profoundly moving!
Single Bald Female is an exceptionally memorable novel that takes you into the life of Jessica Jackson, a young woman whose life gets turned upside down when she finally gets the promotion she’s always wanted, her boyfriend admits to having an affair, she receives the dreaded diagnosis of having breast cancer and must come to grips with all that entails, and she befriends, Annabel, a fellow cancer patient who quickly teaches her to live life to the fullest every day.
The prose is thoughtful and direct. The characters are strong, genuine, and endearing. And the plot is a compelling, touching tale of life, love, family, friendship, honesty, kindness, humour, contemplation, acceptance, introspection, grief, and loss.
Overall, Single Bald Female is a candid, powerful, beautifully written novel by Price that made me think, made me smile, made me cry, and resonated with me long after I turned the final page not only as a woman, daughter, and mother, but also the sister of breast cancer warrior.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Laura Price
Laura is a multilingual journalist who travels the world writing about restaurants. A proud Yorkshire lass at heart, she spent five years living and working in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Ireland, and is now settled in South London.
Laura worked for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Bloomberg News and Facebook for 15 years before becoming a freelance food, travel and lifestyle writer and consultant. Her work appears in publications including 50 Best, Condé Nast Traveller, National Geographic Traveller and Foodism. She is also project manager for 50 Next and contributing editor for 50 Best.
Laura is a confident public speaker who has presented at culinary events and women’s leadership forums from Bangkok to Bogotá, Melbourne to Milan. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is a qualified translator.
Her debut novel, SINGLE BALD FEMALE, was published in 2022 by Pan Macmillan in the UK and HarperCollins in Germany. Laura is represented by literary agent Sophie Lambert at C&W. She is also a Faber Academy graduate.
Photo by Sara Beth Turner.
