Only Here, Only Now

‘This isn’t just a great first novel; it’s a great novel. And Cora, the mad, chaotic, wise, funny narrator, is one of the great characters’
RODDY DOYLE

‘It’s not every day you read a modern classic. But this feels destined to become one. A thunderous achievement’
NATHAN FILER, author of The Shock of the Fall

‘Only Here, Only Now heralds the arrival of an urgent and unique new voice’
DAVID PEACE

‘A funny, truthful, heartbreaking yet hopeful read’
JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Fife, in the blazing hot summer of 1994. Cora Mowat’s mates don’t understand her, but then Cora Mowat doesn’t understand herself. She’s stuck on a seaside council estate full of dafties, old folk and seagulls, with a thousand dreams and a restless brain that won’t behave. She’s dying to escape but unsure of what the future holds – if it holds anything at all for a girl like her.

When her Mam’s new boyfriend moves in, tensions rise in their tiny house. Gunner means well, but he’s dodgy – a shaven-headed shoplifter with more than a few secrets stashed under the bed. As their attempts to forge a makeshift family unravel, Cora rails against her small-town existence in search of love, acceptance and a path to something good. But sometimes you can’t move forward until you find your way back . . .

In this extraordinary debut, drawn from life but written with riotous imagination, Tom Newlands explores what it means to come of age in a forgotten corner of Scotland and dream of a life that feels out of reach. Vibrant, lyrical and fiercely funny, Only Here, Only Now is a story about poverty, identity and family that shines with hope and resilience.

‘Tom Newlands is the real thing. His story will change you’
MICHAEL SHEEN

‘A tremendous act of empathy . . . heartbreaking and hilarious’
CATHI UNSWORTH, author of Weirdo

‘Tom Newlands’s Only Here, Only Now is a piercing howl of a novel, sharp, elegant and humane. I loved it’
KARL GEARY, author of Juno Loves Legs

Reviews of Only Here, Only Now

Only Here, Only Now heralds the arrival of an urgent and unique new voice, as engaging and as startling as Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Morvern Callar or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and will surely be hailed as one of the great British debut novels ― David Peace

Tom Newlands is the real thing. His story will change you ― Michael Sheen

This isn't just a great first novel; it's a great novel. And Cora, the mad, chaotic, wise, funny narrator, is one of the great characters ― Roddy Doyle

A funny, truthful, heartbreaking yet hopeful read ― Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Tom Newland's Only Here, Only Now is a piercing howl of a novel, sharp, elegant and humane. I loved it ― Karl Geary, author of Juno Loves Legs

A breathtaking debut from an exciting new storytelling talent. Wise, funny, tragic and hopeful.Cora and her world are heart-rendingly authentic ― Christopher Brookmyre, author of Quite Ugly One Morning

A coming-of-age novel that takes the reader inside the brilliant, fizzing mind of a teenage girl with ADHD growing up in post-industrial Scotland. Funny and fierce ― BBC Culture

In a tremendous act of empathy, in his debut novel Tom Newlands describes both an abandoned, neglected landscape – the small Scottish seaside town of Muircross after the collapse of the mining industry – and what it is like to be inside the mind of a young girl, Cora Mowat, who has undiagnosed ADHD. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this is a story of survival against grim odds, superbly spun by a narrator grappling to get to grips with both herself and the incomprehensible world around her. Cora Mowat is my kind of weirdo ― Cathi Unsworth, author of Weirdo, Bad Penny Blues

Heartbreaking and hilarious . . . the story of a Scottish girl with undiagnosed ADHD, trying to make sense of the world ― Daily Express