Love Is a Four Letter Word was greeted in Claire Calman’s native UK with glowing reviews and bestseller status. Reviewers and readers alike found themselves laughing one minute and reaching for the Kleenex the next as they got caught up in this emotional rollercoaster of a novel, a funny yet unexpectedly poignant tale of love, loss and letting go.

Her distinctive brand of wit, coupled with sensitivity and emotional depth, brought her acclaim once again as she tackled the painful subject of a broken marriage in Lessons for a Sunday Father (published in Canada in July 2001 and translated into 11 languages worldwide).

In Love Is a Four Letter Word, we meet Bella, a thirtysomething heroine who’s feisty, funny, self-deprecating and vulnerable. Bella has turned her back on her past, changing her job, her home, her entire life, to give herself a fresh start away from the lingering memories of her ex, Patrick, and a shameful secret she cannot face. Bella’s quite happy never to hear the L word ever again but she wouldn’t mind some sex sometime soon, preferably before she becomes a virgin all over again, “all sealed over like pierced ears if you don’t wear earrings for too long.”

With sparkling dialogue, characters so full of life you start to think you really know them, and story-telling that stops you turning off the light even though it’s after midnight and you really ought to stop reading, Love Is a Four Letter Word is a perfect marriage of style and substance.

CLAIRE CALMAN is the author of four novels—Love Is aFour Letter Word, Lessons for a Sunday Father, I Like ItLike That and now Cross My Heart And Hope To Die—all bestsellers inthe UK. She is also a poet and broadcaster and has performed her distinctivebrand of pithy comic verse on national radio in Britain. She lives in London,England, with her husband and son.

Claire Calman's profile page