The Birds, the Bees and Other Secrets (Macmillan New Writing)

It is the early 1960s, and 13-year-old Cassandra Fitzpatrick is growing up in a household full of waifs, strays, and general misfits. Despite her unorthodox home life, she is generally content until something happens that turns her life upside down. Cass’s unhappiness deepens when she wins a scholarship to a boarding school and is torn away from all she knows and loves, in particular her adored—if wildly unconventional—mother. Years later, as her beloved mother lies dying from cancer, a grown-up Cass begins to reassess the experiences, good and bad, of her past. Moving and humorous, this is a novel about the brevity of childhood and a reminder that love can be found in the most unexpected places.