{"title":"Books by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781472290748","title":"The Year of the Cat","description":"\u003cp\u003e'A brave process of healing and self reconstruction' \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Simply one of the best writers working today. Here's to family, to glamour, and to love' Nell Frizzell, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Panic Years\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI looked around at my flat, at the woodchip wallpaper and scuffed furniture, and realised that I did have a life after all. What it didn't have in it was a cat.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Rhiannon fell in love with, and eventually married her flatmate, she imagined they might one day move on.  But this is London in the age of generation rent, and so they share their home with a succession of friends and strangers while saving for a life less makeshift. The desire for a baby is never far from the surface, but can she be sure that she will ever be free of the anxiety she has experienced since an attack in the street one night? And after a childhood spent caring for her autistic brother does she really want to devote herself to motherhood?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving through the seasons over the course of lockdown, \u003ci\u003eThe Year of the Cat\u003c\/i\u003e nimbly charts the way a kitten called Mackerel walked into Rhiannon's home and heart, and taught her to face down her fears and appreciate quite how much love she had to offer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A superbly written, special book' Olivia Sudjic, author of \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Beautifully captures that liminal period before any life-changing decision' \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128699715762,"sku":"9781472290748","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472290748.jpg?v=1786020801"},{"product_id":"9780715655856","title":"The Republic of Parenthood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘If you are reading this, it means that I have just become a mother' \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRhiannon Lucy Cosslett began writing \u003cem\u003eThe Republic of Parenthood\u003c\/em\u003e in the final weeks of her pregnancy. The plan was to document, in real time, what it means to be a parent in Britain today. But when her son was born five weeks early, she found herself catapulted into parenthood: a world of crushing love, and fear, and hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawn from Cosslett’s agenda-setting \u003cem\u003eGuardian \u003c\/em\u003ecolumn and beautifully illustrated by Pia Bramley, \u003cem\u003eThe Republic of Parenthood\u003c\/em\u003e is a fearless account of the first years of this new life. From Rachel Cusk to Anne Enright, many seminal writers have tackled the subject but, as a new generation become parents, Cosslett uses razor-sharp honesty and great humour to explore the unique challenges they face. \u003cem\u003eThe Republic of Parenthood\u003c\/em\u003e wrestles with the entire joyful, overwhelming, messy experience, whether writing about the impact of Britain’s catastrophic childcare system, or the quest for the pair of socks that can withstand a persistent toddler's best efforts. At its heart is the understanding that something so entirely personal is also political; a paeon to love and pain, and one that will resonate with weary parents everywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55897799491957,"sku":"9780715655856","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780715655856_a8db0a34-0c2c-4a38-b2a9-19156dae95bf.jpg?v=1786014904"},{"product_id":"9781035413812","title":"Female, Nude","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePerfect  for readers of HOT MILK or THE GUEST, FEMALE, NUDE is propulsive, sexy, thought-provoking fiction, a beach read with a brain, tender, provocative and relatable.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'What a gorgeous, hot-blooded novel about art, the senses, and the multitudes of the female body' Charlotte Runcie\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A smart and seductive novel about female sexuality, power and acts of creation' Chloe Ashby\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Sensual and erotic... should be on everyone's anticipated books for 2026 *****' Reader Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Beautifully human... Romantic and heady and violent and sexy' Kirsty Capes\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSophie, a painter, is holidaying with friends in a stunning villa in Greece - her best friend Helena is shortly to be married, and this is the last time she and her friends will be together as single women.  But life has treated them so differently since their university days, that Sophie is questioning everything about their friendship.  Meanwhile her partner, Greg, is desperate for them to try for a baby, but she wants to devote herself to her art - and there are other, deeper forces, pulling the two of them in opposite directions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the course of the holiday, Sophie paints a nude portrait of her friend Alessia, and becomes involved in an intense affair with Ky, who lives and works on the  island.  Both the painting, and the affair, will challenge everything Sophie thinks she knows, about art, about motherhood, about sex  -  and about how and with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685706572149,"sku":"9781035413843","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56368484319605,"sku":"9781035413812","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781035413843_d5f4f2fb-86ce-4ef1-a147-f3751fd10593.jpg?v=1792598864"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-rhiannon-lucy-cosslett.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}