Instructions for Heartbreak by Sarah Handyside

A beautiful, razor-sharp novel by Sarah Handyside, Instructions for Heartbreak is a life-affirming story about female friendship, self-love and how to survive a broken heart.

What if heartbreak came with a manual?It starts with a late-night knock on the door. Katie's three best friends share a flat in South London, while Katie lives close by with her boyfriend.

But when her nine-year relationship ends – suddenly and brutally – she turns up on her friends' doorstep with no idea what to do next. Out comes the martini shaker (an old, well-washed gherkin jar), an unused sketchbook and an idea. They’ll make Katie the handbook she needs to process her heartbreak and start rebuilding her life.

But Katie is not the only one nursing a broken heart. With notes on everything from tears and hangovers to new bedding and white-hot rage, could the heartbreak handbook they intended for Katie contain the words they all need to hear?