Bitter Sweet

Hardback Published on: 03/07/2025
Price: £16.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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Bitter Sweet
Well written and emotional
Wow. You would not believe that this was the authors debut work. It is so well written and captivates the emotions and mental health struggles of Charlie a... READ MORE
Danielle at Waterstones Northallerton 675
Bitter Sweet
Fantastic debut!
Infuriating and very raw. Bitter Sweet focuses on a 23 year old woman who meets her favourite author while working as an assistant publicist. She's in ... READ MORE
Dominika
Bitter Sweet
Beautiful vulnerability
Bitter Sweet is a really beautifully written, compelling story of the relationship between a young woman, Charlie, and a much older married writer, Richard... READ MORE
Beth at Chesterfield
Bitter Sweet
Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure.
I fell in love with Charlie even though her choices were infuriating at times, they made sense given everything she had gone through. I adored the friendsh... READ MORE
Ria
Bitter Sweet
You’re in your twenties… ouch
Hard to believe this is a debut. Bitter Sweet captures the turbulence of our twenties so well. A coming of age story we’ve all heard before and yet I was h... READ MORE
Edith Mitchell

Synopsis

'In my life, there are things that have happened to me, and things that I have done, that have proven to be moments that have a clear before and an after. One of those moments, perhaps in some ways the biggest, was the day that I met Richard Aveling for the first time.'

Charlie is twenty-three, single and the new publicity assistant at the independent London publishing house Winden & Shane. Richard Aveling is fifty-six, married and the author that has defined his generation.

Charlie has long idolised the charming, illustrious writer, who also represents a link to her late mother, who loved his work. But as they embark on an illicit and all-consuming affair, Charlie is forced to hide the relationship from everyone she cares about.

And when the success of Richard's latest book launches him to a new level of fame where all anonymity is lost, she realises she might just be in too deep...

A thought-provoking exploration of a relationship founded in power, control and silence, Bitter Sweet is perfect for book clubs and will appeal to fans of Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
  • ISBN: 9781398722804
  • Number of pages: 400
  • Dimensions: 218 x 146 x 34 mm
  • Weight: 500g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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Bitter Sweet
Great Debut!
Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. This is a great debut - I LOVED IT! Charlie is such a brilliant character. You will absolutely ... READ MORE
Fiona Sharp
Bitter Sweet
An emotional, powerful, realistic story of love and loss
Bitter Sweet is a story of all encompassing love. The kind of love where there’s a before and after; and things are never the same again. The story of C... READ MORE
Leila/ Pacos_book_club_
Bitter Sweet
Addicting
Oh man do I have thoughts about this book. Mostly I want to say I loved it because it was so well written but Richard was not a good man (imo). Charlie was... READ MORE
Renee_Reads
Bitter Sweet
What a Debut!
Bitter Sweet, Hattie Williams' debut novel... and what a debut it is. This story is an emotional and beautifully written exploration of grief, belonging, a... READ MORE
Rebecca Vassallo
Bitter Sweet
An intoxicating, compulsive debut
Congratulations to author Hattie Williams on this intoxicating and compulsive debut that pushed all my buttons. It’s a long time since I found myself shout... READ MORE
Audrey Haylins
Bitter Sweet
Unforgettable
An emotional and realistic portrayal of a toxic relationship between a young woman and an older man. Charlie works as a publicity assistant in a publishing... READ MORE
Dabarai
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Bitter Sweet
New adult anti-romance
In a pitch perfect portrait of a young woman whose choices are not entirely her own, Williams puts us right in the centre of Charlie’s consciousness. In he... READ MORE
Huttson Lo
Bitter Sweet
Fanrastic read! I still seethe when I think about Richard lol
Thank you so much to Orion Publishing Group for sending me an arc to review! This book played on my mind after I finished it. This was such a deep and y... READ MORE
Alexandra  Mundy
Bitter Sweet
Best book I’ve read so far this year!
Wow, I devoured this one. Bitter Sweet by Hattie Williams felt like reading my own thoughts at times — navigating friendships, career struggles, relationsh... READ MORE
@jesslovesbooks2
Bitter Sweet
Despair and love
Charlie, a young woman always on the fringes, few friends, a sheltered childhood, grief stricken at the death of her beloved mother steps into her first pu... READ MORE
Amanda Duncan
Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet
I loved this exploration of love and loss.
Isabelle Chevallot