Awards

• Long-listed for Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year 2025 (UK)
• Short-listed for Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year 2025 (UK)

Overview

Full Product Details

9781837261185

Table of Contents

Reviews

This Bright Life is a moving, haunting portrait of childhood and the jagged reflections of one tiny action in the kaleidoscope of humanity. Karen Campbell captures the voice of 12-year-old Gerard with poignant accuracy and her words paint pictures with the touch of an old master. Ultimately life-affirming, this gritty novel will take you to dark places, but it's one beautiful, uplifting journey -- JANICE HALLETT I love this story so much. Karen writes with such a rare and deep understanding of people and every word of her stories earns its keep. This Bright Life is dark, moving and compassionate and, just like Paper Cup, it's a story filled with hope. I think that's what I love the most about Karen's writing: it makes you feel hopeful, like a handrail in the dark. I adore it -- JOANNA CANNON Brilliantly done . . . This is a very good, intelligent and sympathetic novel. Campbell is a fine novelist, one adept at setting a scene, and one whose sympathy for her characters is delightful -- ALLAN MASSIE * * Scotsman * * Three vulnerable people, thrown together by an accident. In this compelling and heartrending novel, Karen Campbell's skilful and sensitive narration takes us into their worlds, sharing their pain and joy. The setting is authentic, the characters fully alive: the message is one of hope in human compassion and the healing power of love -- ANNE DONOVAN Karen Campbell finds lives that can fall between the cracks, and holds them up to the light of her clear, compassionate writing. Wee Gerard is yet another one of her brilliant creations - so real you can hear him breathing, feel his hurt and frustration alongside him -- KIRSTIN INNES Brutal but beautiful. This book left me speechless -- ELY PERCY One of the best books I've read this year. This Bright Life is deeply beautiful. It will at once break your heart then fill it with joy -- ANNE GRIFFIN A book about responsibility and guilt but one that never gets weighed down by either. In fact this is a story that jumps off the page. There is pain in it, but pain also reminds you that you're alive. In other words, it's really good * * Herald Magazine * * This story of the fragility of life will break your heart but don't worry, it will mend it again in the most beautiful way, reminding you of the indomitable nature of the human spirit. A novel full of compassion and hope -- ELISSA SOAVE This Bright Life is written with empathy, humour and precision and reminds us just what an enjoyable, thought-provoking, whole-picture novelist Karen Campbell can be -- DAVID ROBINSON

Author Information

Karen Campbell is the author of nine novels. A former police officer, then Glasgow City Council press officer, she won the Best New Scottish Writer Award in 2009. She also teaches creative writing and was recently Writer in Residence at Dumfries and Galloway Council. Originally from Glasgow, she now lives in Galloway. karencampbell.scot

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