The Cactus cover art

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
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I enjoyed listening to this immensely. It was similar to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine which was, and still remains one of my favourite ever reads.

A really good listen

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a good story over all, although I didn't feel blown away. the narrator was excellent tho and really helped with the visualisation.

nice story

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Heartwarming book with simply wonderful characters and a believable storyline. I was hooked. Would make a great movie.

Absolutely loved it

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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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This is not normally the sort of book I would choose, but I’m so glad that I did! The dry wit, twisty and well paced storyline and great character building had me hooked. I also cared about the main characters, something hard to achieve with some books.

I will look for more from both the author and narrator. The narrator was that good I could imagine this being brought to life on screen, something for the writer and publisher to consider for the future.

Brilliant

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