The Choice

The Choice in hardback, propped up against a vase on a table

When Renee Gulliver fails to pick up her beloved grandson from school and he vanishes, she isn’t only wracked with guilt, but she cannot confess to where she was when she should have been at the school gates.

As her daughter gives her a terrible ultimatum, the family is forced to recognise that choices we make have long reaching repercussions. Set on an island off the Essex coast that can be cut off at high tide, The Choice examines themes of family estrangement and how difficult it can be to escape labels given us as children. It is described by Woman’s Own as ‘a gut-wrenching read‘ and by Pam North as ‘a compelling, complex and exquisitely imagined family drama.’


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Lisa Jewell on The Choice

Lisa Jewell got asked by the Daily Mail what she will read next...

"...next off the reading pile is The Choice by Penny Hancock. I’m a huge fan of Penny and it’s been a while since she had a new book out, so I’m very excited to get stuck into this. It’s about the repercussions of a young boy’s disappearance after his grandmother forgets to collect him from school."

See full article in the Daily Mail.

Anne Cunningham writing in the West Meath Examiner

“Old secrets and lies, half-forgotten truths and wholly remembered ones, never to be mentioned, come back to haunt. And still little Xavier is missing. It’s a gripping yarn, but beautifully written too, and Hancock is brilliant on the minutiae of family dynamics.”

Read the full review in the West Meath Examiner.

Waterstones says:

"For fans of Jodi Picoult and If Only I Could Tell You, Penny Hancock's The Choice is an engrossing, thought-provoking novel about family secrets and the way that even the smallest decisions can sometimes have far-reaching consequences."

See the full review on the Waterstones website.

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