Almost Life

Kiran Millwood Hargrave author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Pan Macmillan

Publishing:12th Mar '26

£16.99

This title is due to be published on 12th March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

This hardback is available in other editions too:

Almost Life cover

Two lovers. One almost life together. For readers of David Nicholls, Ann Patchett, and Colm Tóibín, Almost Life is about Erica and Laure, who meet on the steps of the Sacré-Cour in 1978. Theirs is a love story that will last a lifetime - even if their lives take them in very different directions.

For readers of David Nicholls, Ann Patchett, and Colm Tóibín, Almost Life is a love story that begins when Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in 1978. Theirs is a story that will last a lifetime – even if their lives take them in very different directions.

Almost Life is Kiran Millwood Hargrave's breathtaking story of love and longing, of the lives we almost live and the choices we don't make — and finding the courage to embrace who you really want to be.

'Immersive, sensual, beautiful and powerful' - Marian Keyes, author of My Favourite Mistake
'Tender, sensual and thrumming with life' - Lucy Steeds, author of The Artist
'One of the greatest love stories I’ve ever read. One Day for a new generation' - Stacey Halls

One chance encounter can define a lifetime

Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman.

The moment the two women meet the spark is undeniable. But their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make. Spanning cities, decades and heartbreaks, fate brings them within touching distance again and again.

But will they be brave enough to seize the life they truly want?

'Hot, smart and completely captivating' - Daisy Buchanan, author of Pity Party
'A beautifully told story about love, longing, and the lives we almost live' - Louise O'Neill, author of Idol

Hot, smart and completely captivating - this is a truly luscious love story. I'll never forget it. -- Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable
A beautifully told story about love, longing, and the lives we almost live. -- Louise O'Neill, author of Idol
Erica and Laure have made me think about MY life, about love and friendship and how short life is . . . immersive, sensual, beautiful and powerful -- Marian Keyes, author of My Favourite Mistake
A rippling elegy to the possibilities and impossibilities of love. Tender, sensual and thrumming with life, Kiran Millwood Hargrave swirls heady prose into both a lament and a celebration of the choices we make, the passions that consume us, and the almost lives we almost live. -- Lucy Steeds, author of The Artist
Almost Life is captivating and immersive, a soaring ode to both love’s possibilities and its pain. Richly rendered and deeply felt, Laure and Erica will stay with me for a long time. -- Sophie Mackintosh, Booker-longlisted author of The Water Cure
Love, loss, joy, cowardice, bravery, sex, friendship, love, more love, always love, Paris, London, Norfolk, and four decades of longing: a masterpiece from a writer at the height of her powers. -- Ella Risbridger, author of The Year of Miracles
Devastating and heartbreaking, with the pain and joy and despair of wanting and being in love so rich on every page. A singular book from a beautiful writer about two women I will never forget. -- Kate Young, author of Experienced
Rich, evocative, stylish and sexy - a gorgeously crafted novel of epic love and epic life. Almost Life is as heartbreaking as it is deeply human. -- Kirsty Capes, author of Girls
One of the greatest love stories I’ve ever read - searingly real, romantic and tragic, Almost Life is One Day for a new generation. -- Stacey Halls, author of Mrs England
Beautiful and full of heart, a book about friendship and love and life itself. Filled with light and tenderness. -- Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory

ISBN: 9781035007493

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

448 pages