The Third Bus

Galvanised by a health scare, Felix Walton's chances of remaking himself by ending his forty-two-year marriage may be slight, but they are otherwise zero, so he ups and runs from London to Norwich in search of a new start. His family's distress has him doubting his decision, and he must unravel the sad truth of his marriage if he is not to give in to remorse and go home. In a chaotic household of waifs and strays run by a warm, erudite earth mother, his fellow lodgers open his eyes to lives unlike his own, help him to make peace with his conscience and find meaning and joy, but the price is unforeseen danger. For fans of Clare Chambers' Small Pleasures, an astute, late-coming-of-age novel that shows the difference an ordinary person can make to so many people's lives just by being himself. And what a moving ending-I couldn't stop thinking about Felix's journey for a long time after I read the last page.- Emma Bamford, author of Deep Water and Casting Off ¿¿¿The combination of tragedy and positivity is beautifully done.- Paul Lyons, author of The Eden Man BobbIe Darbyshire is the author of five novels. She won the 2008 fiction prize at the National Academy of Writing and the New Delta Review Creative Nonfiction Prize 2010. She has worked as a barmaid, mushroom picker, film extra, maths coach, cabinet minister's private secretary, care assistant, adult literacy teacher, and in social research and policy. Bobbie hosts a writing group and lives in London. Bobbie's previous novels are: Truth Games; Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones; OZ; and The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker. You can find Bobbie on Facebook and Twitter @bobbiedar, or visit her Amazon author page.