Sweet Sorrow

Sweet Sorrow

Paperback Published on: 04/06/2026
Price: £10.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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Sweet Sorrow
First love....
Sweet Sorrow is narrated by Charlie, in his thirties looking back on his self when he was 16 years old and the single summer everything changed. His parent... READ MORE
Emine at Bromley
Sweet Sorrow
Wonderful!
I remember reading my proof of One Day and being blown away by this beautiful, sad story so I was delighted when Hodder & Stoughton sent me a proof of Swee... READ MORE
Laura at Braehead
Sweet Sorrow
A beautiful and sweet teenage love story.
I was 16 in 1990 and though I never performed in a Shakespeare play or fall in love (well apart from with The Stone Roses) this book took me right back to ... READ MORE
Richard at Hull Uni
Sweet Sorrow
A bitter sweet coming of age novel
We join Charlie during the summer of 1997 as he completes his GCSEs (the same year I completed mine so the nostalgia was palpable). The sweetness of falli... READ MORE
Joanna at Waterstones Telford
Sweet Sorrow
Nicholls' does it again!
Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for sending me an advance copy of this in exchange for a review! Oh my word - I loved this so much. The best decision I... READ MORE
Jenna
Sweet Sorrow
Bittersweet and joyful
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy at Waterstones Barnet. David Nicholls is an incredible writer. I can't think of many other author... READ MORE
Lucy - Waterstones Barnet bookseller
Sweet Sorrow
Funny and clever
A book about first love – of course the story is centred about Romeo and Juliet - of course! And yet – despite resorting to such cliched storytelling – Dav... READ MORE
Tabby
Sweet Sorrow
Sunmer lovin'
ThIs is a beautifully-written look at young love and how intense and all-consuming it can feel. I really enjoyed it; it's the first book by David Nicholls... READ MORE
LC
Sweet Sorrow
Bittersweet nostalgia
Steeped in wistful nostalgia, this bittersweet novel astutely explored teenage uncertainty, experiencing first love and coming to the painful realisation t... READ MORE
@wishful_reader_

Synopsis

Sweet Sorrow: a novel of the searing explosion of first love, and the rocky path to adulthood
'A beautiful paean to young love'
OBSERVER'Fizzing'
GUARDIAN

'A glorious escape to the sunlit uplands of the 1990s'
FINANCIAL TIMES

'Exquisite'
DAILY TELEGRAPH

'The sense of nostalgia is visceral and intense, almost time-bending'
SUNDAY TIMES

Everyone has that one summer.

It's 1997 and Charlie Lewis is stuck. School is over, his family is breaking up, his father is falling apart and the long, empty holidays stretch ahead towards an uncertain future.

And then, quite by chance, Charlie meets Fran Fisher and it's as if a new world has opened before him.

But can it last?

Twenty years later, Charlie tells the story.

ONE OF BRITAIN'S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS
'One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now'
FINANCIAL TIMES

'An uncanny ability to make us laugh out loud, but also care passionately about his characters'
DAILY TELEGRAPH

'Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love'
THE TIMES

'No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does'
EVENING STANDARD

'Genuinely brilliant'
NEW STATESMAN

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
  • ISBN: 9781399765237
  • Number of pages: 416
  • Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 30 mm
  • Weight: 290g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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Sweet Sorrow
When Charlie met Fran...
This is a coming of age story like no other. Charlie is getting married but he can not help reflect on when he was younger. This is everything a story shou... READ MORE
Helena
Sweet Sorrow
Summer nostalgia
Having loved all of David Nicholl's previous books I was always going to be predisposed to like this one. But that doesn't mean this book won't have a broa... READ MORE
Gemsiek
Sweet Sorrow
Gorgeous storytelling
I found this book a beautiful read- captures that particular moment of first love wonderfully. Fully formed characters that felt real and that you cared ab... READ MORE
Deborah Underdown
Sweet Sorrow
Glorious!
This is another wonderful novel from the mind of David Nicholls and just what his fans have been waiting for. To enjoy his novels you have to be willing to... READ MORE
BenjaminPXR5
Sweet Sorrow
a real Slowwwwwwwwww burn of a book.... an introduction to Shakespeare
Firstly and in my opinion, Sweet Sorrow is not anywhere near as engaging as One Day, or other Nicholls books, i am three quarters through the book and ha... READ MORE
cal;vin smith
Sweet Sorrow
Great book
Great Book
Ellie Atkins
Sweet Sorrow
A Beautiful and Melancholic British Story
I make a point of reading every new book by David Nicholls and am yet to find myself disappointed. This was no exception. The novel is a beautifully writte... READ MORE
Stephen Birss
Sweet Sorrow
Highly recommended - I don't often give 5 stars
What a beautiful book – I’ve no idea how I missed this when it was published last year but now I’ve found it I want everyone else to enjoy it too. David Ni... READ MORE
Debra Davidson-Smith
Sweet Sorrow
Wonderful!
A wonderful book! Poignant and amusing. You feel real empathy for the main characters and it summons up the atmosphere of a 1990s teenage summer so well. I... READ MORE
Sara Stilwell
Sweet Sorrow
David Nicholls finest yet!
An absolute fantastic read, so much so I’ve read it twice! The unique yet realistic way in which Nicholls writes romance captivates the reader leaving on... READ MORE
Connor Hume
Sweet Sorrow
a beautiful read
“In the chaos of our family’s self-destruction he had quietly and unassumingly made himself present and though I could hardly recall a conversation that mi... READ MORE
Marianne Vincent