Looking For Eliza

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What to expect

'Clever, warm and funny' - ADAM KAY

'Beautifully rendered, thoughtful and original' - Pandora Sykes

'A marvellous read' - Ruth Hogan

Ada is a widowed writer, navigating loneliness in Oxford after the death of her husband. She has no children. No grandchildren. She fears she is becoming peripheral, another invisible woman.

Eliza is a student at the university. She finds it difficult to form meaningful relationships after the estrangement of her mother and breakup with her girlfriend.

After meeting through Ada's new venture, 'Rent-a-Gran', and bonding over Lapsang Souchong tea and Primo Levi, they begin to find what they're looking for in each other. But can they cast off their isolation for good?

An exquisite story of connection and loss, and how a person can change another person's life. Full of heartache yet joyful and life-affirming, this is for fans of Normal People, Expectation and Sarah Winman's Tin Man.

'Leaf's writing is warm and lyrically funny - she has an eye for details both sublime and ridiculous.Looking for Eliza is an intelligent and big-hearted read with the human condition at its core.' - Harriet Walker, The Times

Critics Review

A love story of intergenerational friendship that is perfect for these divisive times. Leaf's writing is warm and lyrically funny - she has an eye for details both sublime and ridiculous. Looking for Eliza is an intelligent and big-hearted read with the human condition at its core.
I've never read a love story quite like Looking for Eliza, and it has absolutely stolen my heart. This tale of two intelligent, charming, eccentric, and lonely women who reach across a generational gap in order to create a beautiful friendship with each other filled me with joy, delight, and pathos. How beautifully Leaf Arbuthnot has shown us that the one we've been looking for our whole lives might be living right across the street, quietly working in her garden. I loved this book.
Elizabeth Gilbert
A wonderful story about the redemptive power of an unexpected friendship. Leaf's characters are fresh, engaging and beautifully drawn. A marvellous read.
Ruth Hogan, bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things
Beautifully rendered, thoughtful and original
Pandora Sykes
Clever, warm and funny
Adam Kay
A joyous, big-hearted novel about community - just the tonic for our times
Cosmopolitan
A heart-rending book about connection and the optimism of the human heart
The Lady
A heartfelt story about an unlikely friendship
Evening Standard
A tender-hearted tale of the redeeming power of friendship.
Mail on Sunday
Never has a book about cross-generational friendship and looking out for your neighbours been more timely
Daily Mail
A promising debut
Sunday Times
This lovely, consoling hug of a novel is a tonic for our times.
Spectator
Leaf Arbuthnot's debut novel is a warm-hearted tale of friendship across the generations
Sunday Express, S Magazine
This is an exquisite story of connection and loss, and how we can change another person's life. Full of heartache, yet joyful and life-affirming
Platinum

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