Preloved: A sparklingly witty and relatable debut novel

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Brimming with life, love and the stories bound up in even the most everyday items, Preloved is a tale about friendship, loss, being true to oneself no matter the expectations – and the enduring power and joy of charity shops. Just like that once-in-a-lifetime charity shop find, Preloved is a gleaming prize to be treasured.' Caroline O'Donohue, author of Promising Young Woman

Preloved by Lauren Bravo | Goodreads Preloved by Lauren Bravo | Goodreads

Ok, first of all, HOW DARE YOU, Lauren Bravo?!? How do you have the audacity to write something so utterly relatable and unputdownable as your debut novel? From 8am on the day I sat down intending to just read a few chapters of Preloved to 8pm that evening when I finished, I internally screamed, ‘OMG SAME!’ so many times I lost count. I’m an author and award-winning journalist, writing about fashion, food, pop culture, travel, feminism and life,for people like Sunday Times Style, Grazia, Refinery29 UK, Cosmopolitan, Stylist, easyJet Traveller, Foodism, Delicious, The Telegraph and The Guardian. Beautifully considered and wonderfully crafted with characters who feel true to life. Full of witty observations and dazzling retorts and withering reactions... it won't disappoint." - Justin Myers

Table of Contents

Laugh-out-loud funny but also poignant and tender, Preloved is an absorbingly special debut novel. I devoured in equal measure the delicious descriptions of food and the moving vignettes of preloved treasures peppered throughout the book, while the nineties and noughties nostalgia had me gasping with pleasure." - Laura Price Preloved is, to me, a story of connections, of memories and about how you need to face the past to move into the future. With charity shops, there’s a moral code that if you wouldn’t buy it, you shouldn’t donate it. But sometimes charity shops seem closer to bins than boutiques. It seems people lose their sense of shame when donating, but Lauren disagrees, “I think people are actually trying to retain their moral compass. Donating is potentially a way of appeasing their guilt at having bought a life full of things that are ultimately going to end up in the bin. They think, ‘If I give it to a charity shop, hopefully, they'll be able to do something with it and make some money from it.’ I think it's a way of appeasing their own conscience.”

Preloved | Book by Lauren Bravo | Official Publisher Page

This book doesn’t shie away from the more complicated issues. The topic of trauma when talking about the death of Gwen’s brother Luke who died suddenly at just 19 is handled sensitively. Another subject that seems to be one that is so divisive is childlessness. Suze and her husband are at an impasse when it comes to the topic of children; he wants them, but she doesn’t.Gwen has been waiting to hear about a promotion at her work when she is made redundant – the real reason for which is revealed much later on in the book (but no spoilers) and if she’s being honest she feels as though she’s stagnating. Her relationships with her friends don’t seem to be going anywhere, to the point that she actually avoids spending too much time with them. She’s been isolating herself almost since the day she told her fiance that their relationship was over 5 years ago.

Lauren Bravo - David Higham Associates Lauren Bravo - David Higham Associates

Now it’s time for Gwen to get out of her life in pause, and to find a way to move forward with bravery and humanity—and more regular dental care. We all have our own personal opinions about charity shops don’t we dear reader? Some see them as a place to offload their junk that has been cluttering their house for years, to cleanse themselves of their past life in hopes that others will find need from their unwanted possessions. Others see them as Aladdin’s cave full of wonder and mystery just waiting for you to discover your next treasure. Other people think they smell of death and urine, they avoid them like the plague. However you view charity shops you can’t deny that they are a magical place full of untold stories. From 2002 onwards I was a columnist for The Worthing Herald, which they were kind/desperate enough to let me carry on doing every week for 11 years.Full of relatable anecdotes, lively, funny and modern, Preloved is a moving tale of emancipation and friendship. I loved it!" - Margaux Vialleron I feel like last year I read a fair few books about chaotic 20-somethings who don’t know what to do with their lives (sweet summer children) – so imagine my delight to read a novel about a middle-aged woman who doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life! Is 38 middle-aged? I’m turning 42 in a couple weeks and I deffo feel middle-aged, and also sort of have no idea what I’m doing… The book follows Gwen as she struggles to come to terms with sudden unemployment and decides to volunteer at a local charity shop. There, she meets a fantastic cast of characters that make the book a joy to read. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Haringey, an area of London that I currently reside in but rarely see in literature. Gwen's shrewd observations of life as a 30-something in London were also entertaining and relatable.

Break Up With Fast Fashion by Lauren Bravo | Waterstones How To Break Up With Fast Fashion by Lauren Bravo | Waterstones

Gwen decides to start where all things get a second chance: her local charity shop. There, with the help of the weird and wonderful people and donated items bursting with untold stories, Gwen will find a way to move forward with bravery, tenacity, and more regular dental care. With tough issues at its core, Preloved is still intimate and joyful. While you’ll find no spoiler alerts here, there is an optimistic finish. GLAMOUR wonders, why do you think people need happy endings? A heartwarming tale of friendship, loss and being true to yourself, regardless of expectations.' Red magazineYou have to prioritise work, family commitments, children, potentially partners, potentially ageing parents (over) friendships, and it becomes much harder. There can be a real disconnect between the friendships we imagined we would have and the friendships that we actually have.” As we watch Gwen clamber over familial relationships, potential romances and sex as well as as best friend who seems impossibly far away, Lauren believes “ Preloved is definitely a love story about friendships more than anything else.” The book alternates between chapters involving items that find their way to the second hand store and Gwen's narrative about her life and learning how to move forward. About midway through, the pieces slotted together and I realized the significance of many of the "item" chapters. This is when the story began to take on more meaning for me and the flow felt more natural. I'm going to quote Marian Keyes, who once said that she thinks that to give people a book that doesn't have a happy ending is just rude, which I agree with! You don't have to tie everything up neatly in a bow, but I needed ( Preloved) to be uplifting and hopeful too. I couldn't have spent a year and a half of my life writing a book that didn't have a hopeful conclusion.