PATHWAYS

PATHWAYS is a voice-led literary novel from Katie Ward, author of GIRL READING, told from the split perspective of Cara, a logical and driven Cambridge neuroscientist who finds her wheels are spinning, and her "stepdaughter" Heather who has plenty of momentum but doesn't know where she wants to end up.

Cara is a dedicated neuroscientist with a research post at Cambridge. Heather is her almost-stepdaughter, drifting towards the end of school, trying to picture a future that fits her. Paul is Cara's partner and Heather's father - and when he suddenly disappears with no explanation, these two very different women, legally and biologically unrelated, need to figure out their place in each other's life. Set in Cambridge and Las Vegas, each place in its way as artificial as the other, PATHWAYS is about connections forged and connections failed, and how people struggle to understand themselves and each other. A novel of both the heart and the head, it is perceptive, wry and unexpectedly moving, a love story of deep originality and intelligence. Before writing full time, Katie Ward worked in the public and voluntary sectors, including at a women's refuge, and for a Member of Parliament. She took a career break to write her first novel after coming across an article about a book of portraits of women and girls reading. Katie loves art, philosophy, and Shakespeare. She has travelled to some interesting places, survived breast cancer and runs a bit; she also supports ECP's campaign to #MakeAllWomenSafe. Katie started Wolsey Writers at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, in 2015. She has a husband and a cat.