I love Sara Cox and feel like we’ve grown up together – from drinking pints to keep up with the lads in the 90s, through multiple kids in the 2000s – and now settling down with good books. I really enjoyed her autobiography, and when I saw she had her first fiction book out, I asked Net Galley for a copy and was lucky enough to receive one. Here’s the blurb:

“The wise and gloriously big-hearted debut novel from the much-loved broadcaster, Sara Cox
Becky: a single mum who prides herself on her independence. She knows from painful experience that men are trouble.
Louise: a loving husband, gorgeous kids. She ought to feel more grateful.
Jameela: all she’s ever done is work hard, and try her best. Why won’t life give her the one thing she really wants?
Sheila: the nest is empty, she dreams of escaping to the sun, but her husband seems so distracted.
The inhabitants of the Inventor’s Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly ‘Hellos’ when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number 7’s wheelie bin, but it’s not exactly Ramsay Street.
The dilapidated community centre is no longer the beating heart of the estate that Becky remembers from her childhood. So the new pottery class she’s helped set up feels like a fresh start. And not just for her.
The assorted neighbours come together to try out a new skill, under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher, Sasha. And as the soft unremarkable lumps of clay are hesitantly, lovingly moulded into delicate vases and majestic pots, so too are the lives of four women. Concealed passions and heartaches are uncovered, relationships shattered and formed, and the possibility for transformation is revealed.”

This feels like a soap opera or a TV drama straight away. Four different women who live near each other but don’t really know each other – and how their lives intertwine, primarily around a new pottery class at their local community centre.

Each of the main characters has issues going on behind closed doors – and you get involved in all of their lives. I liked them all in their own ways – although Becky was my favourite.

I’ve never watched ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ – but it would appear Sara has learnt lots about potting from presenting it – and that threads through the book.

There are some gentle twists and turns – but I have to say I guessed some of the ‘shocks’ – and there were no OMG moments for me. It was a lovely, gentle, comfortable read and I did enjoy it. But I do wonder if it would have been published if it didn’t have a celebrity author?

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC – and it’s out now if you fancy some pottery based escapism.