Do Not Feed the Bear

'Beguiling and astute' Sarah Winman 'Astoundingly good' Deborah Moggach 'Wonderfully redemptive' Sarah Haywood 'I was delighted and surprised by this textured, fascinating and most moving book' Chris Ware A life-affirming novel about broken but loving families, people making mistakes but doing their best, grief and getting stuck - for readers of ELEANOR OLIPHANT and THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP On her forty-seventh birthday, Sydney Smith stands on a rooftop and prepares to jump... Sydney is a cartoonist and freerunner. Feet constantly twitching, always teetering on the edge of life, she's never come to terms with the event that ripped her family apart when she was ten years old. And so, on a birthday that she doesn't want to celebrate, she returns alone to St Ives to face up to her guilt and grief. It's a trip that turns out to be life-changing - and not only for herself. DO NOT FEED THE BEAR is a book about lives not yet lived, about the kindness of others and about how,