**A 2025 Highlight in the Guardian, I-Paper, Prima, Irish Times, Irish Independent and Sunday Independent**
'I defy you not to cry while reading this' Red
'De Waal knows how to tug at the heartstrings' Daily Mail
'A profoundly compassionate novel of devastating power' Bernardine Evaristo

Paulette's the kind of woman who likes the future all mapped out: the wedding to Denton, the Caribbean honeymoon, the gingham quilt on the baby's crib. Until one morning Garfield, Denton's friend, arrives at her door with the news that Denton won't be coming around any more, that there won't be time for her to say goodbye.

Somehow Garfield finds his way into her bed, and sooner than anyone can believe there is a baby, and suddenly giving Bird, her son, the best of everything is what gives Paulette's life meaning.

So why is it another little boy, Nellie, who keeps Paulette awake at night? Nellie who is being raised a few streets away, with no sign of a mum. Surely Paulette is the last person who should be getting tangled up in any of that?

The Best of Everything is a novel about the love that can steal into our lives - in spite of the best laid plans.
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⭐ What readers are saying; ⭐

'I read this in a sitting, revelling in every word-perfect sentence' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'A beautiful and important story about kindness that will break your heart, then make it sing' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'Paulette is a superbly drawn character, as are those that orbit her world' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

"Everything de Waal has written pulls at the heartstrings... tenderly explores how to build a life of meaning" - I-Paper

"I love the characters that de Waal creates on the page, and I cannot wait to meet the new ones in this book" - Prima

"A beautiful novel about kindness and found family" - Mail on Sunday

"A beautiful novel about kindness and found family" - Good Housekeeping

"Full of warmth, this is a joyous story about love, and what family means to each of us" - Prima