Careless, Kirsty Capes
Careless, Kirsty Capes
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Careless
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022

Author: Kirsty Capes

Narrator: Amber Gadd

Unabridged: 9 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Orion

Published: 05/13/2021


Synopsis

**Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022!**

A COSMOPOLITAN, BBC, STYLIST, DAILY MAIL, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING and GUARDIAN BEST BOOK PICK!

'Astounding. Heart-breaking but hopeful, and a fresh new voice' PANDORA SYKES
'Moving and beautifully written' LIBBY PAGE
'A rare new talent' THE GUARDIAN
'A book that deserves to be a huge hit' STYLIST
'The literary equivalent of gold dust' BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

***

Sometimes it's easy to fall between the cracks...

At 3.04 p.m. on a hot, sticky day in June, Bess finds out she's pregnant.

She could tell her social worker Henry, but he's useless.
She should tell her foster mother, Lisa, but she won't understand.
She really ought to tell Boy, but she hasn't spoken to him in weeks.
Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn't come without conditions.

But this isn't a love story...

Reviews

I will emphasise up front that my low rating reflects (as always) my personal reaction to the book - as I think it is one that many other readers will appreciate both for the under-represented topic (life in the care system) it covers and as they will engage with the two main protagonists plight and......more

Goodreads review by emma

a coming-of-age story centred around topical issues such as the broken care system, teenage pregnancy and racism, careless follows fifteen-year-old best friends bess and eshal. the former falls pregnant by an individual older than her and is terrified of how her foster family will react, wanting mor......more

Goodreads review by Britta

I liked this quite a bit more than I thought I would. 3.5* rounded up because it's a debut.......more

Goodreads review by brontë

As soon as I read the first chapter I knew this would become a favourite of the year. I became completely compelled by Kirsty’s writing. Her attention to detail for the characterisation of our teen main character Bess is simply stunning. This is a narrative surrounding life in care and the nuances t......more


Quotes

The literary equivalent of gold dust BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

I am so proud of my super-talented former student, Kirsty Capes. I'm so impressed with how her writing has flourished with the cracking characters and energetic prose of her fantastic debut novel BERNARDINE EVARISTO

Moving and beautifully-written LIBBY PAGE

Vivid, bold and beautifully observed ABBIE GREAVES

A story of every day, that is never told ANSTEY HARRIS

Real, raw, heart-wrenching and so wonderfully written JESSICA RYN

Heroic and powerful, but also tender; this is such an important novel CHARLOTTE MENDELSON

So good I'm lying in a tepid bath because my 15 minutes reading turned into 45. What a voice! AMY BEASHEL

Elegant and empathic [...] a portrait of how it feels to be young, brazen and terrified JESSICA MOOR

I felt this book in my gut! It's funny, it's emotional, and at times definitely heartbreaking, but Bess is a hero you can believe in JENDELLA BENSON