The List of Suspicious Things

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Inspiration is so important when we decide to change direction. Do you have a resource that you’d recommend to others?

Not using the biggest selling book of the year/decade as your only comp – it paints you into a corner and there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, tread it carefully. Walters also discussed how her literary mystery, The Lagos Wife, was partly about her own experience. “I was valued as a mother and a wife but not so much as an individual, I had not found a purpose in being there – I was that body floating by, seen and unseen.” This is a beautifully written novel and the author brings the 1970s and the characters to life. Miv is a wonderful character and all the supporting characters are so well drawn. It covers topics such as mental health and racism with sensitivity and from the point of a view of a 12 year old in the 1970s. I was about the same age as Miv in the 1970s and even though I lived in the South West of the UK I can remember the sense of fear felt amongst myself and my friends when we heard the news coverage of the Yorkshire Ripper.I’m making near-constant decisions, and, for me, this is a clear example of everyday leadership. Nothing has been prescribed to me in terms of how to do what I’m doing; I just have to make my way. The List of Suspicious Things follows 12-year-old Miv as she navigates a 1970s Yorkshire plagued by the Yorkshire Ripper. Peter Sutcliffe’s presence dominated Jennie’s early life, but it was only upon his arrest that she realised how closely their lives had touched. Her mechanic father worked with Sutcliffe, frequently servicing the lorries he drove. We All Want Impossible Things is one of those books I will be buying for everyone I know. A funny, moving, beautifully written book, I laughed and cried in equal measure. It is both a unique and wise take on friendship, love and loss that will stay with me for a very long time. JENNIE GODFREY, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS

This is a proper laugh-out-loud tale of friendship that will utterly win your heart ... A truly special book - prepare to read this, fall in love and then hector everyone you know into reading it. STYLIST

Publishers are a jaded lot – when we’ve read and seen everything, when we’re reading submissions we’re reading it with the assumption that we’re going to turn it down because usually that is the case, but Jenny had me from the very first line: ‘It would be easy to say it that it all started with the murders but actually it began when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister’.” Venetia Butterfield, managing director of Hutchinson Heinemann, said: "Jennie’s extraordinarily moving, accomplished and beautifully written novel kept me awake until 3 a.m.

The main character, Miv, is a very strong willed not quite teenager, who gets it in her mind that she can solve the case of the Yorkshire Ripper. She begins to make a list of suspicious characters and places in her town, roping in her not-so-keen-on-getting-involved friend, Sharon. Along the way, we meet the other residents of their small town, with many giggles and traumas along the way. In Newman's hands... this tale of love and friendship is tender, funny, life-affirming joy. MARIE CLAIRE, 'Best Books of 2023' You took our three-month online Writing Your Novel course in 2020. How did your time studying with us impact your approach to writing?

This is a story about holding on, the power of creating memories and, ultimately, letting go. Tissues at the ready. THE HANDBOOK That’s interesting as it is easy to become unconscious to the need for learning. How do you keep yourself honest to that activity?