Before Everything

Author(s): Victoria Redel

General Fiction

End of sixth grade they made it their official name. It was a joke one afternoon but they liked the way it sounded. Permanent. The Old Friends. This way, the five girls agree, it's just a fact. And ours forever.Anna, Molly, Ming, Caroline, Helen: the Old Friends.Since adopting their official name aged eleven, they have seen each other through careers, children, illnesses, marriage, divorce, addiction, fame, fall outs.But now, Anna - fiercely loved mother and friend, and the Old Friends' glue - is diagnosed with cancer again, and this time, tired of recoveries and relapses, pitying looks and exhausting regimes, she simply says: no more.As her health declines, the politics of the still lived-in world merge with memories of the past while each Old Friend tries to accept the truth of what is happening: they are losing someone they cannot imagine life without.Some will fight her decision, some will accept it, but all will rejoice in a life fully lived.


Product Information

Victoria Redel was born in New York, and attended Dartmouth College and Columbia University. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines including Granta, Harvard Review, Elle and The New York Times, and she currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. Her debut novel, Loverboy, was adapted for a feature film directed by Kevin Bacon. Before Everything is her first novel to be published in the UK.

General Fields

  • : 9781473651838
  • : Hodder & Stoughton General Division
  • : Sceptre
  • : July 2017
  • : July 2017
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Victoria Redel
  • : Paperback