HOW TO BELONG

Sarah Franklin returns with a compelling tale of lost connection and finding a home, perfect for fans of Tessa Hadley and Maggie O'Farrell.

Jo grew up in a rural town, but she was always the one destined to leave for a bigger, brighter future. When her parents retire from their butcher's shop, she returns to her beloved community to save the family legacy, hoping also to save herself. But things are more complex than the rose-tinted version of life which sustained Jo from afar.

Tessa is a farrier, shoeing horses two miles and half a generation away from Jo, further into the forest. Tessa's experience of the community couldn't be more different. She too has returned, in flight from a life she almost led, nursing a secret and a past filled with guilt and shame. Compelled through circumstance to live together, these two women must confront their sense of identity and reconsider the meaning of home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Franklin grew up in rural Gloucestershire and has lived in Austria, Germany, the USA and Ireland. She lectures in publishing at Oxford Brookes University and has written for the Guardian, Psychologies magazine, The Pool, the Sunday Express and the Seattle Times. Sarah is the founder and host of Short Stories Aloud, and a judge for the Costa Short Story Award. Sarah lives in between London and Oxford with her family.