My debut novel Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love, weaves a story of love, loss, rootlessness and homecoming across the streets of contemporary London. It is published by Picador in the UK, Penguin Press in the US, and in 14 other countries around the world, from Sweden to Russia, Turkey to Taiwan.

 

 

The Story

Alice has just returned to London from months of travelling abroad. She is late to hear the news that her father is dying, and arrives at the family home only just in time to say goodbye.

Daniel hasn’t had a roof over his head for years, but to him the city of London feels like home in a way that no bricks and mortar ever did. He spends every day searching for his daughter; the daughter he has never met. Until now . . .

Heart-wrenching and life-affirming, this is a unique story of love lost and found, of rootlessness and homecoming and the power of the ties that bind. It is a story for fathers and daughters everywhere.

 

You can read an extract from the beginning of the novel on Picador’s website and ‘like’ the Facebook Page to get the occasional update.

Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love is now out in paperback. You can buy it from Foyles, Blackwells, WHSmiths, Waterstones…

If you’re interested in how books are made, read my blog post about visiting the factory where Ten Things was printed.

 

Reviews

‘Sarah Butler writes a very real London, linking paths through the city with a moving, eloquent story of love, loss and family’ Stella Duffy

‘A very enjoyable read . . . subtle and clever’ Clare Morrall, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Astonishing Splashes of Colour

‘A hymn to London – poetic and incantatory. The gripping, hopeful love story is deftly threaded through wonderfully detailed, sensuous prose’ Martina Evans

‘Heartbreaking and hopeful, Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love criss-crosses London in a search for fathers and daughters, family and home. For anyone who has ever wondered where they belong, or to whom they belong, the answer can be found within Sarah Butler’s tender debut novel’ Vanessa Diffenbaugh, author of The Language of Flowers

‘A tender and imaginative novel about love, belonging and the ties that bind, this is a beautifully written book that shows the reader contemporary London through the eyes of two people on personal journeys.’ Choice magazine

‘If this weren’t billed as a debut novel, one would never know it. Sarah Butler writes with the deftness and delicacy of a master storyteller, giving us a compassionate, achingly beautiful rendering of a father and daughter.’ Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound and When She Woke

‘Graceful and subtle… love, in all its shape-shifting complexity, is at the core of this novel; that and the consequences – good and bad – of keeping secrets… The shifting and intricate dynamics of family life, and the vertiginously painful feelings of loss induced by relationship breakdown and bereavement, are written with imaginative precision. This is a thought- as well as emotion-provoking novel… It also sparkles with hope.’ Independent on Sunday

‘Increasingly suspenseful… a moving and satisfying debut’ John Harding, Daily Mail

‘A warm-hearted, hopeful fable about trying to stay true to yourself: about losing parents, building bridges and seeing miracles in the dust on the pavement’ Maggie Gee

‘This poignant novel about fathers and daughters, homecoming and restlessness, is also a love letter to London… Butler has viewed the city in all its weathers and moods, and this shines through on every page. Equally elegant are her observations of the emotional turmoil of her main characters as they pace the capital’s highways and byways, united by a secret… A moving, life-affirming debut.’ Marie Claire

‘In a novel flitting between the perspectives of young Alice and homeless older gentleman Daniel, Butler gives an astute insight into both their worlds.’ The Big Issue

‘Explores the bonds and fractures between fathers and daughters… This is a novel strong in both style and substance that tells a poignant tale of hope and love regained’ We Love This Book

‘Exquisitely written… Butler writes with lucidity, compassion and a beautifully detailed eye for London and all its quirks’ Metro
‘[A] delicately told debut novel’ Book of the Week on Oprah.com

‘a carefully structured story that invites and even requires puzzle-solving … a novel that often evokes strong feeling’ The New York Times

‘[A] soulful debut … Spare language and an atmosphere of foreboding will keep readers on tenterhooks.’ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)