A Different Life: The emotionally powerful new novel about love and family secrets from the international bestseller

Julia Kelly

Mar 2027 · Random House

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304

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This book will become available on March 18, 2027. You will not be charged until it is released.

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Two girls sit on a bench on a windy pier. This summer will change them both forever. A captivating story of love, betrayal and family secrets set in a Victorian seaside holiday town.

PRAISE FOR JULIA KELLY:

‘A beautifully written story of loss and love’ Florence Knapp, Sunday Times-bestselling author of THE NAMES

‘Tender, moving’ Daily Mail

‘A beautiful story of grief, hope and love’ Lucy Diamond, Sunday Times-bestselling author of ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Martha must forget her old life. Arriving with her mother to a new house by the sea, she has to accept that her father, her prospects and her old home are gone. Filled with resentment, she takes a job at the Grand Hotel on the seafront.

Then she meets Lizzy.

Lizzy is everything Martha is not: open, curious and unafraid to see people for who they really are. Soon the two girls are meeting in secret, escaping to the beach after dark, and Martha begins to discover the possibility of a different kind of life.

But there is a reason Martha’s mother had them leave London under cover of night, and a reason Martha can’t tell Lizzy the truth about her family.

A Different Life is a moving story about yearning, betrayal and difference, but most of all, about the different paths we can take to love.

Two girls sit on a bench on a windy pier. This summer will change them both forever. A captivating story of love, betrayal and family secrets set in a Victorian seaside holiday town. PRAISE FOR JULIA KELLY: ‘A beautifully written story of loss and love’ Florence Knapp, Sunday Times-bestselling au...

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About the author

Julia Kelly is a writer and retired teacher who lives in Herefordshire with her partner and two labradors. She has been longlisted for The Mslexia Novel Prize, The Exeter Novel Prize, PenguinWriteNow and the Bath Novel Award. In 2021 she won the Blue Pencil First Novel Award. Having grown up in a house without television, Julia read anything she could lay her hands on from an early age. Since becoming a wheelchair-user, Julia appreciates even more the journeys the written word can take us on. The Fisherman's Gift, Julia's debut novel, is an international bestseller, has been translated into 10 languages and was shortlisted for The Author's Club Best First Novel Award.

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