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The Cactus

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The Cactus

By: Sarah Haywood
Narrated by: Katherine Manners
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About this listen

A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | SHORTLISTED FOR THE BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD | A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK

People aren't sure what to make of Susan Green. Family and colleagues find her prickly and hard to understand - but Susan makes perfect sense to herself. Age 45, she thinks her life is perfect. She has a London flat which is ideal for one; a steady job that suits her passion for logic; and a personal arrangement providing cultural and other, more intimate, benefits.

Yet suddenly faced with the loss of her mother and, implausibly, with the possibility of becoming a mother herself, Susan's greatest fear is being realised: she is losing control. And things can only get worse ... at least in Susan's eyes.

This sparkling debut is a breath of fresh air with real heart and a powerful emotional punch. In Susan we find a character as exasperating and delightful as The Rosie Project's Don Tillman. An uncompromising feminist and a fierce fighter, it's a joy to watch her bloom.

©2018 Sarah Haywood (P)2018 John Murray Press Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Feel-Good Funny Witty

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Critic reviews

'Quirky, poignant and extremely readable' Sunday Mirror

'Brilliantly comic' The Lady

'Wonderfully funny and astute' Red
Most relevant  
a very well written story. engaging characters. I will definitely look out for more by this author

very enjoyable

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I really enjoyed this book. The narration was in pretty good West Midlands accent (a few odd pronunciations but I put that down to the character having lived in London for a while!) and the supporting characters were voiced equally well. I loved the story and the characterisation. The plot was maybe a little unbelievable, particularly the way that everything ended up, given how spiky Susan was. I spent most of the first half expecting to find out that there was some reason for her personality, some brain injury or intellectual disability that she was covering up or something, so to have everything work out so normally felt a little unreal but, to be honest, I didn't really care too much because I really wanted everything to work out well for her! The family secrets and the impact of poor relationships on each other felt very real though, and overall it was a very entertaining book.

Prickly but loveable

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This book is so good. Great story and characters. Straight forward and a good pace, loved it

Such a good book

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I really wanted to enjoy this book as it came highly recommended. I found the main character difficult to like or to care about. I stuck with it and eventually enjoyed it. I believe it is being made for Netflix with Reese Witherspoon as the lead. I could totally envisage her playing this role and I think I'll enjoy that more than the book.

struggled to finish

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I read this as part of my IRL book club and there were some mixed reviews and what we noticed was that people who had listened to the audio enjoyed it far more than the people who had just read it, I think some of the humour in the way the main character said things was lost in the pages and the narrator of the audiobook managed to bring that back to life.

Narration made this book

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After a slow start this picked up pace. Remarkably accurate legal stuff and fun narration.

a prickly person

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Absolutely loved it! Great story, fantastic characters and brilliant narration! Looking forward to more by this wonderful author.

Blooming Marvellous

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A very weak story made worse by the reader with her pseudo Brummie accent. Not worth the effort.

A waste of time

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This is a delightful story which I have now listened to twice the narrative tone was easy on the ear also …well done

2nd time around

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You can't help but warm to Susan and her funny ways, it's lovely watching her character evolve as her journey makes her challenge how she's always lived her life. Beautifully narrated.

couldn't stop listening

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