This Bright Life by Karen Campbell

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE AWARD 2025

'Life-affirming' JANICE HALLETT

'Full of compassion and hope' ELISSA SOAVE

'A masterpiece' CAROLE HAILEY

Margaret - an elderly widow who just wants to be left with her memories and her quiet, contained life. Claire - newly divorced, downsizing into the neighbourhood and way too busy to mend a broken heart. Gerard - a tearaway twelve-year-old who hates his name but loves his little brother and sister.

Gerard is a bright kid, but trouble always follows him. No one really knows what it's like at home; he's used to carrying a lot on his small shoulders. Gerard doesn't always make good decisions.

One morning, he makes a very bad one, upending not just his world, but the lives of Margaret and Claire too. Both heart-breaking and life-affirming, This Bright Life is a story of messy lives, second chances and the many hands it takes to build a boy.

Format:Paperback / softback 304 pages
Publisher:Canongate Books
Imprint:Canongate Books
Edition:Main
ISBN:9781837261185
Published:26 Mar 2026
Classifications:Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Housing & homelessness
Weight:214g
Dimensions:128 x 198 x 20 (mm)