‘Moving, funny, compassionate and wise, An Unlikely Visitor is an astonishing achievement. Joanna Cannon is an exquisite observer of human nature. Her stories are not so much told as felt by the soul. An Unlikely Visitor made me laugh, cry and left me filled with hope’ ELIZABETH DAY

Margaret thinks her time is up…

Things have been hard since her husband Derek died, and they never really got over the disappearance of their daughter, Jeanie, all those years ago.

Despite everything, they built a lovely life together… it’s just starting to feel impossible for Margaret on her own.

But maybe her time is now?

Then one day, Margaret returns home to an unlikely visi­tor, and together they set out to discover what really hap­pened to Jeanie.

Perhaps if you knock on enough doors, you might find another end to your story…

'Brimming with Jo's trademark compassion, insight and wry humour, An Unlikely Visitor is both a meditation on a grief, a mystery of a missing child and a powerful exploration of the human condition. Jo writes so beautifully about human frailties and her kindness illuminates every sentence. A treat of a novel' HANNAH BECKERMAN

'A novel that appears to be telling Margaret and Derek’s poignant story becomes, in Joanna Cannon’s gifted hands, a profound reflection on the human condition, and therein lie the joy and the magic… We are left marvelling at how extraordinary ordinary people can be, and what a wonder it is to live and love at all' JOANNA GLEN

Praise for Joanna Cannon:

‘Emotional, sweet, funny, hauntingly sad and poignant’ SARA COX

‘Lovely, lovely, lovely… Sue Townsend meets Kate Atkinson meets Nina Stibbe’ MARIAN KEYES

‘An utter delight’ SARAH WINMAN

‘A joy and a triumph’ RACHEL JOYCE

‘Charming, wise and profoundly human’ ERIN KELLY

‘Joanna Cannon is a compassionate storyteller who writes about the big things with a lightness of touch. An Unlikely Visitor is an engaging mystery, magical and humane as it slowly unfurls – a perfect book for today’s world’ SARAH WINMAN

Praise for Joanna Cannon:

‘Lovely, lovely, lovely… Sue Townsend meets Kate Atkinson meets Nina Stibbe’ MARIAN KEYES

‘A chronicler both of the human condition and the quotidian details which speak to who we are’ GUARDIAN

‘Irresistibly good-hearted’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘Funny, melancholy, acutely observant’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘Compassionate, thoughtful and tender’ OBSERVER

Joanna Cannon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Three Things about Elsie and A Tidy Ending. She worked as a hospital doctor before specialising in psychiatry, and lives in the Peak District with her family and her dog.