Contact

UK Reviews for The Two Week Wait

'A topical subject treated with insightfulness and care that makes for a wholly absorbing story with a touching ending that'll prompt a tear or two.'

Easy Living

'In evoking ordinary lives invaded by a deep, primitive yearning, Rayner's portrayal of her characters' interior landscapes is carefully crafted and empathetic... She tackles the cruelties of the situation head on.'

The Sunday Times

'Sarah Rayner explores an emotive subject with great sensitivity.'

The Sunday Express

'An addictive page-turner that delves deep into the importance of love and friendship.'

The Manchester Evening News

'In creating the story of two strangers brought together by one wish - to have a child of their own - Rayner has written a novel that as well as having colourful and resonating characters is also intensely emotive and even educational."

The Yorkshire Evening Post

'Each chapter in The Two Week Wait energetically switches between the lives of two women... Sarah Rayner has got the balance just right.' 8/10

The Birmingham Mercury

'A must read! The exploration of characters is compelling - a real page turner.'

g3 Magazine

'A writer with a gift for conveying raw emotions and the intricacies and subtleties of relatonships between family and friends, The Two Week Wiat is a moving page turner about two very different women each yearning for a child of their own.'

Fertility Road Magazine

'Sensitively written, The Two Week Wait is interesting and educating as well as entertaining. It has wide appeal and kept me hooked from page one. Highly recommended, it's a juicy page-turner you'll want to swallow up whole.' 4.5/5 stars

bookbag.com

'Incredibly compelling... Rayner has clearly done her research and the result is a story that reads more like non-fiction than fiction due to its unashamed honesty. Through all the hormones, tests, judgements and moral dilemmas is a story that captures the joy and heartbreak of the struggle many people endure in the faint hope that they will one day manage to become parents and the repurcussions this can have on their relationships and sanity. Beautifully written and heartbreakingly honest.' 8/10

Novelicious

'Absorbed me more than any book in a long time... The story is told from alternating snapshots featuring Lou and Cath which makes for a great pace and gripping reading. I was so wrapped up in events that I was telling my husband about them as though they were happening to friends of mine. I highly recommend it to readers looking for a sensitive, warm and absorbing read. Absolutely deserving of 5/5 stars .'

onemorepage.co.uk

'I would seriously recommend Sarah Rayner's books, she writes with huge sensitivity and captures emotions perfectly. Her focus is very much on female characters but all her characters are individuals and each brings something different to the story. The Two Week Wait is a really good read, you don't need to have read One Moment, One Morning but I probably would as it is another great book.' 5/5

dot-scribbles.blogspot.com

'The Two Week Wait is of those books with a really emotive storyline that embraces you - a great read, not just for people going through fertility treatment and their friends and family, but for anyone who wants to be taken on a journey with characters who are brought to life and share themselves generously with the reader.'

fertility-counselling.com

'Sarah Rayner shows a real understanding of the emotions of infertility and the book will resonate with anyone who has had personal experience of problems. I finished the book with tears in my eyes - it's a great read and you won't be able to put it down!'

Kate Brian, author of The Complete Guide to IVF, fertilityviews.blogspot.com

'I finished reading The Two Week Wait over my over-sugared venti latte. Unlike my coffee, this is not a froth-filled novel - Rayner is not afraid to tackle contraversial topics; in One Moment, One Morning it was bereavement and sexuality, in The Two Week Wait, it is infertility. Rayner has really done her research. I also enjoyed meeting One Moment's characters again. But while One Moment is a fantastic read, The Two Week Wait is a standalone novel. I guarantee that, like me, it will have you sobbing into your caffeinated drink of choice.'

sugarbabylove.wordpress.com

'A well researched and well thought-out story...The detail Rayner provides leaves the reader very well informed on what might be involved in undergoing fertility treatment. Both an educational and emotional read...I applaud Rayner for her insight'

Bio News

'I read One Moment, One Morning over two years ago and I still praise and recommend it on any given occasion, so I jumped at reading The Two Week Wait. Like its predecessor, it focuses on important - and often controversial - issues: motherhood and infertility. And now, as before, Rayner excels at dealing with such personal matters with compassion and understanding. The Two Week Wait is a well-researched novel that has a lot to teach. If you've read One Moment, it will feel like meeting old friends. If you haven't, you've two whole novels to discover enjoy. You're in for a real treat!'

bookafterbook.blogspot.com

Sarah Rayner

My writing room

Sarah shares her writing room

This is it; unstyled, untidied, replete with three cats. Very obliging of them to get in the shot. But then I quite often end up with one on my lap, one on my mousemat and one sunbathing under the lamp, as here. It can make writing hard, peering round a pair of ears to view my work, but recently I treated myself to a bigger screen so now it’s a more like being at the cinema with someone wearing a hat in front of you – annoying, but not impossible.

As you can see, minimalism isn’t my style. Part of me admires people who do clean white walls and shelves where one classy object strikes a deliberate pose, like a supermodel in the snow. But I’ve got far too many nick nacks that please me to limit myself to one. (Just like I haven’t got only one cat.) Sneaking into the shot on the left are my bookcases – every inch of this room is as smothered as the wall you see here.

Above my desk are my work-in-progress boards. I went to Staples six months ago and treated myself to them. (I love Staples. Forget Harvey Nicks, I reckon. Staples is where it’s at – it’s far cheaper and way more practical.) On the left is a pinboard, here I have (in no particular order) a voucher for a facial I’ve yet to find time to have, various book jacket designs in progress (which have to tie in with the teacups cover of my novel One Moment, One Morning, hence why that is there too), some bills that need paying, and a drawing by one niece and a postcard from another (and her Puffin, Muffin. I gave her a subscription to the Puffin Club for her birthday – she got Muffin with her welcome pack).

To the right is a wipeboard, for lists. Lists are a good thing – I keep encouraging my partner, Tom, to give them a go, but he’s yet to appreciate their value. As a result my life is made up of tasks to be wiped off, his is more of a spaghetti tangle, though perhaps this something I should share with a marriage guidance counsellor rather than on here. At the moment I’m focused on publicity and writing articles, as I’ve a new book – The Two Week Wait - out this month, so the list says ‘Sunday Times article’, ‘P.O.S. for Waterstones’, ‘send book to Rachel’ and it did say ‘piece about my office for my website' but I wiped that off as I started writing this.

When I was in the process of novel creation, the wipeboard was a mind map with arrows and ringed words and different colours everywhere. I had the timeline going from left to right, but I also needed to see the links between themes and characters. I’m a bit odd that way, for a writer my mind works pictorially. Indeed, I draw too, and the sunflower picture is one of my own.

Finally, on the far right, there’s a glimpse of French windows; these lead to a little wrought iron balcony with pots on. It’s not the best view in the world – there are a lot of rooftops involved, but it’s got a certain charm. And our patio is like this office: full to bursting.

One Moment, One Morning

Description

Sometimes, one moment is all it takes to change a life forever.

The Brighton to London line. The 07:44 train. Carriages packed with commuters. One woman occupies her time observing the people around her. Opposite, a girl puts on her make-up. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife’s hand. Further along, another woman flicks through a glossy magazine. Then, abruptly, everything changes. A man collapses, the train is stopped, an ambulance called. And for three passengers that particular morning, life will never be the same again.

There’s Lou, in an adjacent seat, who witnesses events first hand. Anna, who’s sitting further up the train, impatient to get to work. And Karen, the man’s wife.

Telling the story of the week following that fateful train journey, One Moment, One Morning is a stunning novel about love and loss, secrets and lies, family and – above all – friendship. Memorable and moving, gripping the reader from the very first page, it’s a stark reminder that sometimes, one moment is all it takes to shatter everything. Yet it also reminds us that somehow, despite it all, life can and does go on.

Buy the Book

available from Amazon in paperback and kindle editions

Reviews

'A real page-turner . . . You'll want to inhale it in one breath.' - Easy Living

'Rayner skilfully lays bare a story of loss, secrets and lies, family and the enduring friendships between women - life affirming and insightful.' - New Books Magazine

'An intimate, thoughtful novel celebrating women's friendship and loyalty.' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly

'Touching, insightful, this is a story that will stay with you.' - Take a Break Fiction Feast

There are further reviews in our Press Section

International Editions

international-editions

Picador (UK) in 2010
AudioGo (UK) 2012
Der Club (Germany) 2009
Rowohlt (Germany) 2010
House of Books (Netherlands) 2011
St Martin’s Press (US) 2012
Michel Lafon (France) 2012
Ugo Guanda (Italy) 2012
Vega Forlag AS (Norway) 2012
Everight (China) 2012

US Reviews for One Moment, One Morning

The Boston Globe

"Rayner's spot-on portrayal of the stages of grieving allows readers to experience the emotional roller coaster of loss right along with her three protagonists... Karen, Anna and Lou. But while One Moment, One Morning - already a bestseller in the United Kingdom, where it was released in 2010 - may find a natural audience with female readers, it exudes a quiet complexity, resisting categorization as chick lit... Rayner's writing, though heartbreaking at times, never feels histrionic or sappy. Though the novel spans only a week's time, sectioned day and time, Rayner's use of flashbacks and subtle yet revealing details offers a textured sense of each woman's personality and invites investment practically from page one, making for a gripping read. It's likely only a matter of time before a film adaptaptation is in the works. One Moment, One Morning is essentially a dissection of the moments, be they life-altering or fleeting, that both define individuals and bind them to others. Rayner not only does a superb job of exploring this theme, but does so through women who are so relatable and well-defined that it's a shame to part with them on the final page."

Marie Claire

US Marie Claire (December 2011) has picked One Moment, One Morning as this month's Must Read.

"In the mood for something delicious?' they say. 'Then look no further than Sarah Rayner's big-hearted, utterly addictive paean to women's friendship. Set amid the funky seaside carnival charm of present-day Brighton, the novel (a runaway best seller in England) examines the lives of three very different women who are brought together unexpectedly when the husband of one suffers a fatal heart attack. But while Rayner faithfully chronicles losing a loved one, she is equally dedicated to illustrating the profound ways in which friends help each other survive. Think Steel Magnolia's for Brits: tender... and ultimately irresistable."

Publishers' Weekly

A man’s sudden death touches off seismic shifts in the lives of three women, wife-turned-widow Karen, neighbour Anna, and teacher—and closeted lesbian—Lou, in this affecting weeper about friendship and family. Rayner takes a random tragedy on a morning commuter train from Brighton to London and parses it over the hours of six days plucked from half a year, dissecting the women’s emotional unraveling and eventual rebirth as stronger mothers, lovers, friends. The aching loss heaped swiftly upon Karen and her two young children, Molly and Luke, is reason enough to cry, but their search for solace turns from maudlin and mundane to insightful and fresh thanks in part to the pleasing retrospective flashbacks of this family’s life. “It’s his failings that made him who he was,” Karen confesses in her plaintive eulogy. And while Karen rebuilds her fractured family, best friend Anna contemplates the end of an abusive relationship with a charming drunk, and Lou finally trusts her heart enough to come out to a family she vastly underestimates. Rayner sets up a tricky emotional minefield for these vulnerable women, but deftly guides them to a place of power and truth.

Booklist

"Rayner's writing is concise and contemporary, bringing her characters and their emotions to life in so realistic and believable a way as to avoid the cliched. Her portrayal of emotion is authentic, even to the point of being painful to read, but this story is as much about relationships, hope and second chances as it is about death and loss. Its most valuable lesson of all is that each of us only has one life to live."

Tatiana de Rosnay, New York Times bestselling author of Sarah’s Key and A Secret Kept

"Oh what a novel! It will make you laugh and cry, it will make you want to call your dear ones and tell them how much you love them, it will make you buy it for all your friends."

Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Commencement and Maine

"Rayner writes unflinchingly about the worst sort of tragedy life can bestow, yet she somehow manages to let the light shine through. The result is a powerful novel about love, loss, and friendship that is at once brave, funny, sad, and ultimately unforgettable."

Kirkus

"Affectionately drawn characters lift a morose topic into a companionable light, as Rayner never shies away from her character’s misery and ineptitude in dealing with the worst, offering a welcome dose of reality in the literature of female bonding."

(click image to view full cover)

OMOM cover framed

Getting Even

Description

How would you feel if your best friend at work betrayed you? Was secretly having an affair with an influential colleague? Did you out of a coveted promotion, then teamed you up with a mere junior, leaving you feeling completely demoted? What would you do? For Ivy there's no choice. The only person she has ever trusted, Orianna, has blown it big time. So there's only one way forward.

Revenge.

Ivy's campaign is brilliant, if horribly destructive, and she's determined to get even with the woman has dared to cross her. But is Ivy really the innocent party? Or is she hiding secrets of her own?

Set in the heart of Soho's adland, where emotions run even higher than the salaries, Getting Even is an unputdownable tale of jealousy packed with bonking, bonding and backstabbing.

Buy the Book

available from Amazon.co.uk in paperback

getting even

Reviews

'Read this book! A bestseller without a doubt, this wickedly thrilling story will keep you amused and intrigued.' - Bella Magazine

'A compulsive read about bonding and backstabbing.' - Company

'A 'MUST READ'!' - The Sun

'If revenge is a dish best served cold, then this is surely the Nigella of cold-cuisine cookery books' **** - Heat

UK Reviews for The Two Week Wait

My writing room

Sarah shares her writing room

One Moment, One Morning

Description

Buy the Book

Reviews

International Editions

US Reviews for One Moment, One Morning

The Boston Globe

Marie Claire

Publishers' Weekly

Booklist

Tatiana de Rosnay, New York Times bestselling author of Sarah’s Key and A Secret Kept

Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Commencement and Maine

Kirkus

Getting Even

Description

Buy the Book

Reviews

More Articles...

A Tale of Five Teacups

In The News

Sarah's Next Novel

Quick Links

Get In Touch

Follow Sarah



Visit Sarah's Facebook page	Follow Sarah on Twitter	Find Sarah on Goodreads