For When I’m Gone

  • Author Rebecca Ley
  • Narrator Antonia Beamish
  • Publisher Orion
  • Run Time 9 hours and 21 minutes
  • Format Audio
  • Genre Family life fiction.
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What to expect

'For fans of Maggie O'Farrell and Jojo Moyes, this is a sweeping book of love, motherhood, death and hope' STYLIST


'Wonderfully assured' THE TIMES
'Pass the tissues...' EVENING STANDARD
'Lovely novel. Highly recommend' JENNI MURRAY
'Beautifully written' THE SUN
'Prepare for heartbreak' WOMAN & HOME
'A beautiful story' LAURA PEARSON
'Brilliant' BELLA

Because there's never enough time to say goodbye...

Sylvia knows that she's running out of time. Very soon, she will exist only in the memories of those who loved her most and the pieces of her life she's left behind.

So she begins to write her husband a handbook for when she's gone, somewhere to capture the small moments of ordinary, precious happiness in their married lives. From raising their wild, loving son, to what to give their gentle daughter on her eighteenth birthday - it's everything she should have told him before it was too late.

But Sylvia also has a secret, one that she's saved until the very last pages. And it's a moment in her past that could change everything...

Praise for For When I'm Gone:

'Beautifully written, with powerful messages of hope' KATHERINE WEBB

'A moving portrait of a modern family in crisis' FRANCESCA HORNAK

'Ley took my breath away. Exquisitely written and deeply effective' KATE WEINBERG

'Heart-breaking. Beautifully written. Reminded me of Maggie O'Farrell' REBECCA THORNTON

'A beautiful, sharply observed tale of motherhood, complicated women and family dynamics' CHARLOTTE PHILBY

'Heartbreaking and yet uplifting... Rebecca Ley has written a wonderful debu't JENNY QUINTANA

'Rebecca Ley explores the need for love, forgiveness and remembrance that's within us all' WOMAN'S WEEKLY

Critics Review

Wonderfully assured… For When I’m Gone is a sad novel because it could hardly be anything else, but Ley’s crisp, witty writing keeps it firmly on the right side of mawkishness.

THE TIMES

A beautifully written, incredibly sad debut that will make you value living that little bit more. Five stars.

THE SUN, Book of the Week

Beautifully written, with powerful messages of hope.

Katherine Webb

We couldn’t put down this brilliant book.

BELLA

A moving portrait of a modern family in crisis.

Francesca Hornak

Ley took my breath away. Exquisitely written and deeply effective.

Kate Weinberg

It’s heart-breaking. Beautifully written. Reminded me of Maggie O’Farrell.

Rebecca Thornton

A beautiful, sharply observed tale of motherhood, complicated women and family dynamics.

Charlotte Philby

Heartbreaking and yet uplifting… Rebecca Ley has written a wonderful debut.

Jenny Quintana

Rebecca Ley explores the need for love, forgiveness and remembrance that’s within us all… The quality of writing, characters and hopeful ending makes the heartbreak easier to bear.

WOMAN'S WEEKLY

A heartbreaking book, beautifully written and with messages of hope for the reader.

WOMAN'S WAY

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