Ruth Thomas – författare

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Nineteen-year-old Luisa McKenzie has failed her Scottish Highers and finds herself back at primary school - working as a teaching assistant, a role she never envisaged or wanted. Her old friends have all left town and she spends her days perched in the classroom's Home Corner, answering questions about God and Death and the colour of the sky.Increasingly disillusioned and reflecting on paths not taken, Luisa begins to ask her own questions about life and the so-called adult world. As her end-of-year review looms, it looks like she may not even be able to hold down this unsatisfactory job much longer and, with the discovery of an uncomfortable secret, her take on reality slowly begins to unravel . . .The Home Corner is a funny, tender novel about feeling adrift when facing the 'real world' for the first time. It explores the way we create our own identities in the light of other people's, and queries the distinctions that are made between the absent and the present, the real and the imagined.

Edinburgh, 1991. Having flunked her exams, eighteen-year-old Luisa McKenzie finds herself back at school - this time working as a classroom assistant. Instead of leading a new 'sophisticated' life as a student in London, she spends her days trundling to and from her childhood home, sitting on the outside of the 'Home Corner' in a class full of five-year-olds.A chance encounter one afternoon with Stella, a former schoolfriend who has, herself, gone on to 'greater' things, wakes Luisa up to her disappointments. With a school trip and a magic show on the horizon , Luisa's hold on reality slowly begins to unravel .

At fifteen, Sally Tuttle and Rowena Cresswell were firm friends, until a shocking event changed their lives. Now in their late thirties, they are estranged, both single mothers, both haunted with memories of their intense friendship. Sally is an embroiderer, a needlewoman ("the homelier sister of Wonderwoman"), who works at In Stitches, a repairs shop in East Grinstead. When she wins an embroidery prize and is invited to a conference in Edinburgh to deliver an embroidery lecture, she has to leave her teenage daughter Pearl alone and step into a new role - lecturer, prize-winner. Rowena Cresswell is in Edinburgh too, helping her son move out of his student accommodation. This beautifully woven, perfectly pitched story of two women caught in the shadow of their teenage years will stay in the hearts of readers long after they put it down.

Julia and Nathan have no friends to speak of. They're misfits of Mrs Henrey's class - awlays the last to be picekd for the team, and always without a partner. Then they discover a stash of money in a deserted house and suddenly, instant popularity seems just around the corner. But so is trouble, in the shape of the adults who start asking difficult questions. There is only one thing the pair can do now, and that is to run away!

Edward is the school wheeler-dealer with dreams of becoming a millionaire by the time he's twenty. When he finds a mysterious package in the park, he ropes two school-mates into a daring scheme, one that catapults them into an adventure of secrets and intrigue - and his wish seems very close to becoming a reality.

There's been a spate of break-ins lately in the area and everyone in Kate's class is saying that the burglar is Desmond Locke's dad because he's just come out of prison. Everyone, that is, except Kate. She's sure that Mr Locke is innocent and turns to her Secret Seven books for inspiration - they always find the real thief. Kate and Desmond become detectives to find out the truth and prove Desmond's dad is innocent. But the truth isn't always what you would like it to be and Kate is horrified when she discovers who really is... GUILTY.

Mum knew she shouldn't have left the children alone. That was why she was hurrying home, running to catch the evening train. She was so worried about Nicky and Roy that she didn't hear the thief come up behind her; she didn't look carefully when she dashed across the road . . . Back at home Nicky is findingit harder and harder to reassure her younger brother Roy. Soon the children are running out of money and the neighbours are getting suspicious. But whatever happens, Nicky is certain of one thing - she will NEVER tell.

'Subtle, Wry and Intimate' - The TimesSybil was happy with her perfectly average life. She had a decent job, working for the Royal Institute of Prehistorical Studies, and a happy relationship with her boyfriend, Simon. That is, until Helen Hansen, Sybil’s undergraduate nemesis, re-enters her world, and now life as she knows it is unfurling in front of her eyes.After an unfortunate ice-rink incident that led to a short stay in hospital, Simon and Helen go home together, leaving Sybil not only concussed but loveless. To add insult to injury, Helen has now been appointed Head of Trustees at work, making her a permanent fixture in Sybil’s daily life. Helen reflects everything Sybil isn’t, and she becomes fixated on exposing Helen as a fraud, no matter the cost.Witty, offbeat and subtle, Ruth Thomas captures our hearts in The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line with Sybil’s sarcastic narration, wry observations and real emotion. As featured on **BBC Radio 4 as book of the week*, *The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line tells the story of the life of a twenty-something; messy, honest, at some points lonely, but altogether full of heart.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.