Messy-heroines-Website-Flatlay-Angled-Main-template

Reading lists

Complex heroines you can’t help but root for

Image showing a selection of books about neurodiversity

Neurodiversity-books

Books about ADHD, autism, and neurodiversity

Cassandra in Reverse

'Holly Smale is an exceptional writer and this book is a treasure. Everyone should read it and everyone will love it'

'Witty, touching and totally absorbing. Cassandra is a funny and sharply-observed character who I loved spending time with'

'Sharp, funny, quirky, insightful and so very, very relatable'

'Cassandra Dankworth is one of the most compulsively readable protagonists in contemporary fiction. This is a truly original novel, a war cry for you to be you and for me to be me. I loved it.'

'Cassandra Dankworth is a character as unique as she is endearing ... An absolute gem of a novel'

'Reinvigorates the time loop trope with the perfect match of character and concept ... Utter genius!'

'I didn't want it to end, but I also couldn't stop reading. I really, really loved it'

With a genius premise, hilarious and poignant writing, and a heroine who is both unique and so relatable, this is THE book for anyone who has ever wished life came with an undo button

'Clever, unusual and often amusing, this is a powerful exploration of one woman's attempt to find happiness against the odds'

'A very clever book . . . A quirky story, written with intelligence and humour.'

If you had the power to change the past. . . where would you start? 
 
Cassie has never really fitted in. She remembers everything. Understands nothing. And consistently says the wrong thing. 
 
So when she gets dumped, fired AND her local café runs out of banana muffins - all in one day - it feels like the end of the world. 
 
But then Cassie discovers she has the power to go back and change things. 
 
With endless chances to get it right, can she stop it all from going wrong? 
 
As featured on Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 2 Book Club, The Times & Daily Mail 
_________________________ 
 
'A time-twisting delight' REESE WITHERSPOON 
'Utterly brilliant!' ZOE BALL 
'Everyone should read it and everyone will love it' LINDSEY KELK 
'Totally absorbing' GRAEME SIMSION 
'Sharp, funny, quirky, insightful and so very, very relatable' JOANNE HARRIS 
'Hilarious and heartwarming' WOMAN'S OWN 
'Gut-warmingly funny' EMMA JANE UNSWORTH 
'Truly original novel' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS 
'Very clever' IRISH EXAMINER 
'IWonderful' DAILY MAIL 
'This is THE book for anyone who has ever wished life came with an undo button' SOPHIE IRWIN 
'Smart [and] funny' THE TIMES 
'A triumph' SUN 
'Clever [and] unusual' DAILY EXPRESS 
'Brilliantly clever' SARAH HAYWOOD 
'A witty read' SUN ON SUNDAY 
 
First published in the UK as The Cassandra Complex. 
 
 
Reese's Book Club Pick, June 2023

Holly Smale

If you could see your future, how would you live now?'Utterly joyous' Prima 
 
'Irresistibly charming, heartbreakingly hopeful, and downright hilarious' Catherine Walsh 
 
'Fabulously original' The Sun 
 
Margot Wayward is in manically gleeful self-destruct mode. Following the implosion of a ten-year relationship, she’s wilfully derailing her successful career, joyfully taking down men on dating apps, and living in total chaos. 
 
Until one day, when Margot has a vision of herself with a man she’s never met before. She doesn’t believe in fate. But when Margot meets single-dad Henry, the vision comes true: exactly as she’d foreseen it. 
 
As her future continues to reveal itself, a glimpse at a time, Margot realises she knows exactly what’s going to happen, and when. And there’s nothing she can do to change any of it. 
 
So Margot has to decide how to live, how to love again, and how to be herself… Because if you can’t change your destiny, how on earth do you live your present? 
 
'Funny and tender, full of joy… a clever, surprising look at how our future selves can help us find out who we are.' Catriona Silvey 
 
‘A true delight from cover to cover' Charlotte Butterfield 
 
'Holly Smale never fails to make me laugh.' Daisy Buchanan 
 
_____________________ 
 
Praise for Holly Smale: 
 
'A time-twisting delight' REESE WITHERSPOON 
'Utterly brilliant!' ZOE BALLLI 
'Everyone should read it and everyone will love it' LINDSEY KELK 
'Totally absorbing' GRAEME SIMSION 
'Sharp, funny, quirky, insightful and so very, very relatable' JOANNE HARRIS 
'Hilarious and heartwarming' WOMAN'S OWN 
'Gut-warmingly funny' EMMA JANE UNSWORTH 
'Truly original novel' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS 
'Very clever' IRISH EXAMINER 
'IWonderful' DAILY MAIL 
'This is THE book for anyone who has ever wished life came with an undo button' SOPHIE IRWIN 
'Smart [and] funny' THE TIMES 
'A triumph' SUN 
'Clever [and] unusual' DAILY EXPRESS 
'Brilliantly clever' SARAH HAYWOOD 
'A witty read' SUN ON SUNDAY 
'Utterly joyous'

I Know How This Ends

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

East of Eden

Wuthering Heights

White Nights

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Boxed Set: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov

Holly Smale

Praise for I Know How This Ends

A fabulously original tale

It’s brilliant on grief and moving on.

Books by Holly Smale

Articles featuring Holly Smale

Complex heroines you can’t help but root for

Books about ADHD, autism, and neurodiversity

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter