Published By: Picador
Pages: 128
Released On: 01/10/2026
Tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done.
On Christmas Eve, in a hotel on Ireland’s west coast, a man and a woman meet for the first time. As a snowstorm gathers outside windows twinkling with fairy lights, they share a meal, pour wine, propose a toast.
Janice and Gerry may be strangers to one another, but they each have a confession to make.
As the blizzard howls, the night will take an unexpected turn, and their conversation will have consequences far beyond the candlelit table . . .
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Picador for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my first book of Sarah’s, although I do have a copy of Ripeness.
Ahhhhh it has no speech marks. I hate that with a passion. Normally it causes me to DNF a book, but as this was so short I thought I’d persevere.
I did like that the female protagonist was an older character. Usually old characters are there to tick a box, they’re sidelined, there for humour, or to show off someone else’s story. But this was her story, front and centre.
The story itself was fine. But there isn’t much of it. It’s basically the streams of consciousness of two strangers – without speech marks – so it felt very rambling. And dare I say it, don’t shoot me, but I didn’t see the point of this book. I didn’t get the story, the writing style (no speech marks) is one I despise (have I said how much I hate that). It’s a rambling conversation that doesn’t really go anywhere.
I was sooooo looking forward to this. I even had it pre-ordered before money issues caused met o cancel it. But it’s a major let down. I was expecting something wintery and cosy, possibly even Christmassy, with a little edge. But it wasn’t any of that. It was very flat, a story that just so happened to take place in the winter.
A book of this short page count should have flown by, and even though I could see the page count going up on my kindle screen, each page felt like hard work and it took much longer to read than it should have.
There is a twist at the end which I admit I didn’t see coming (although I am terrible at figuring these things out), and whilst surprising, it did work.
It’s just two strangers sharing a dinner and some secrets. Nothing more, nothing less. And it’s just very boring.
Books By Your Bedside 