Review
With strong characters, a cleverly constructed story and masses of period detail, this vivid evocation of life in 1985 is a fine second book from a writer who first won The Mail On Sunday Novel Competition. --Daily Mail
Ashdown's depiction of a vulnerable teenager and the magnetic pull of a toxic friendship will have you wincing with recognition. --Glamour
Haunting fiction. --Stylist
Funny, insightful and often tragic. A fascinating book whose apparent simplicity masks complexity as it reveals once again the strength of Ashdown`s talent as a perceptive and engaging writer. This is a fitting second novel from the author of the acclaimed Glasshopper and will appeal to personal readers and book clubs alike. --NewBooks Magazine
Ashdown's début novel Glasshopper was named as one of the best books of 2009, and this well-crafted follow-up doesn't disappoint. --Heat
Isabel Ashdown's Glasshopper was one of our favourite reads of 2009, and her second novel is another mix of compelling characters and 1980s nostalgia. --Bella
Bursting with schoolgirl preoccupations of the 1980s - Andrew Ridgeley, Ryvita and rude words on the toilet wall - this lively journey through the embarrassments of growing up is tightly entwined with a darker tale. Sarah Ribbons is now 20 years older and wiser than her teenage self and has returned home for a school reunion. But what is it that is upsetting her so profoundly? --Sainsbury's Magazine
In Hurry Up And Wait Isabel Ashdown has produced a perfectly pitched trip back to the mid-eighties.
Ashdown's depiction of a vulnerable teenager and the magnetic pull of a toxic friendship will have you wincing with recognition. --Glamour
Haunting fiction. --Stylist
Funny, insightful and often tragic. A fascinating book whose apparent simplicity masks complexity as it reveals once again the strength of Ashdown`s talent as a perceptive and engaging writer. This is a fitting second novel from the author of the acclaimed Glasshopper and will appeal to personal readers and book clubs alike. --NewBooks Magazine
Ashdown's début novel Glasshopper was named as one of the best books of 2009, and this well-crafted follow-up doesn't disappoint. --Heat
Isabel Ashdown's Glasshopper was one of our favourite reads of 2009, and her second novel is another mix of compelling characters and 1980s nostalgia. --Bella
Bursting with schoolgirl preoccupations of the 1980s - Andrew Ridgeley, Ryvita and rude words on the toilet wall - this lively journey through the embarrassments of growing up is tightly entwined with a darker tale. Sarah Ribbons is now 20 years older and wiser than her teenage self and has returned home for a school reunion. But what is it that is upsetting her so profoundly? --Sainsbury's Magazine
In Hurry Up And Wait Isabel Ashdown has produced a perfectly pitched trip back to the mid-eighties.
Isabel Ashdown has captured every heartbeat of the uncertainty and excitement of growing up. Duplicitous friendships, awakening sexuality and the trials of school and exams are all depicted as Sarah's story unfolds.
The storyline starts at a school reunion taking place twenty years later. Through this section the secrets of the past are finally revealed and Sarah's story finds its resolution. Anyone who has ever attended a reunion with ambivalent feelings in their heart will identify strongly with this section.
I really enjoyed Isabel Ashdown's first novel, Glasshopper but, if anything, would have to say Hurry Up And Wait is even better. I loved everything about it. --Bookersatz
Product Description
In her eargerly anticipated second novel, Mail on Sunday Novel Competition winner Isabel Ashdown explored the treacherous territory of adolescent friendships and traces the repercussions of a dangerous relationship across the decades. It's been more than 20 years since Sarah Ribbons last set foot inside her old high school, a crumbling, Victorian-built comprehensive on the south coast of England. Now, as she prepares for her school reunion, 39-year-old Sarah has to face up to the truth of what really happened back in the summer of 1986...
About the Author
ISABEL ASHDOWN lives in West Sussex with her carpenter husband and two children. She worked in product marketing for 15 years, until in 2004 she gave up her senior management role to write. Her first novel Glasshopper (Observer 'Best Debuts of 2009', Evening Standard 'Best Books of the Year') was published to rave reviews in 2009 and an extract from the novel won the Mail on Sunday Novel Competition.
