Bitter Sweet

Trade Paperback

The intoxicating, razor-sharp debut book club read for 2025 everyone is talking about!

'I inhaled this novel. Utterly believable, immersive and heartfelt. I loved it' JENNIE GODFREY

'Hattie's writing on early-20s friendships and their enmeshed intensity, was so convincing. I enjoyed it so much' MARIAN KEYES

'Raw and beautiful and true. Hattie Williams writes so honestly on love and loss that it hurts' ABIGAIL DEAN

'A timeless tragedy, a story of the intricacies and illusions of true love' CHRIS WHITAKER

'Thrilling, compulsive and utterly addictive' KIRSTY CAPES

'An instant classic - as innocent and enthralling as first love; recalls the likes of Caitlin Moran and Curtis Sittenfeld' AJ FINN

'Unsettling, unflinching... [it] reminds us how dangerous love can be' ARAMINTA HALL

'Sharp, compelling, and thought provoking. The perfect book club pick for 2025' LOUISE O'NEILL

*Don't miss the intoxicating and compulsive debut novel from Hattie Williams - pre-order BITTER SWEET now!*

'In my life, there are things that have happened to me, and things that I have done, that have proven to be moments that have a clear before and an after. One of those moments, perhaps in some ways the biggest, was the day that I met Richard Aveling for the first time.'

Charlie is twenty-three, single and the new publicity assistant at the independent London publishing house Winden & Shane. Richard Aveling is fifty-six, married and the author that has defined his generation.

Charlie has long idolised the charming, illustrious writer, who also represents a link to her late mother, who loved his work. But as they embark on an illicit and all-consuming affair, Charlie is forced to hide the relationship from everyone she cares about.

And when the success of Richard's latest book launches him to a new level of fame where all anonymity is lost, she realises she might just be in too deep...

A thought-provoking exploration of a relationship founded in power, control and silence, Bitter Sweet is perfect for book clubs and will appeal to fans of Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors.