‘Hubert Bird stole my heart’ Beth O’Leary, author of The Flat-Share and The Switch

‘Lovely, emotional, uplifting’ Libby Page, author of The Lido

In phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun and friendship.

But Hubert Bird is lying.

Something has made him turn his back on people, and he hardly sees a soul.

So when his daughter announces she’s coming to visit, Hubert faces a race against time: to make his real life resemble his fake life before he’s found out.

Along the way Hubert renews a cherished friendship, is given a second chance at love and even joins an audacious community scheme. But with the secret of his earlier isolation lurking in the shadows, is he destines to always be one of the lonely people?

‘It is the kind of book you will want to press into the hands of everyone you know and tell them to read immediately’ Press Association

‘Flits between the present day and Hubert’s early life as one of the Windrush generation. Heartbreaking, yet also uplifting’ i Paper

‘Tender, humorous and uplifting – reading this is the uplift we all need’ Women’s Weekly