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People in Love: The unforgettable new novel by the author of word-of-mouth hit Talking at Night
Not yet published
Expected 4 Jun 26Countless readers fell in love with Talking at Night. Now, pre-order People in Love: a love triangle that you will never forget.
'Heartfelt, full of warmth, and shows the everyday intimacies that make a life'
FLORENCE KNAPP, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE NAMES
'Pure heartache, pure poetry, pure, brilliant moonbeam Claire Daverley. I couldn't wait to see what would happen, even though I never wanted it to end’
CATHERINE NEWMAN, NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SANDWICH
'Magnificent. Daverley writes with wisdom, kindness, and humour about the glory and pain of love in all its forms.'
EMMA KNIGHT, AUTHOR OF THE LIFECYCLE OF THE COMMON OCTOPUS
‘Tender, wise, deeply satisfying and so beautifully written – I adored this gorgeous, grown-up love story’
DAISY BUCHANAN, AUTHOR OF PITY PARTY
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL OF 2026
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.
It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?
The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.
Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.
Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?
Tender and compelling, People in Love is a story about what-ifs and maybes, and the moments of misunderstanding that can shape our lives. It’s a book about living one life while musing on another, exploring how our choices shape our relationships and inform our regrets, and revealing, in the end, that the real love story is not always the one you'd expect.
PRAISE FOR TALKING AT NIGHT
'I was rapt'
ANN NAPOLITANO
'A perfect thing'
CHRIS WHITAKER
'So gorgeously harrowing and romantic'
CATHERINE NEWMAN
'Tender and true, this is a stunning debut that reminded me of Sally Rooney'
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'A classic love story in every sense, and yet in Claire Daverley's hands, it felt entirely new'
MARY BETH KEANE
'A beautifully observed, tender love story'
JOJO MOYES
'A passionate, page-turning debut'
DAILY MAIL
'Heartfelt, full of warmth, and shows the everyday intimacies that make a life'
FLORENCE KNAPP, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE NAMES
'Pure heartache, pure poetry, pure, brilliant moonbeam Claire Daverley. I couldn't wait to see what would happen, even though I never wanted it to end’
CATHERINE NEWMAN, NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SANDWICH
'Magnificent. Daverley writes with wisdom, kindness, and humour about the glory and pain of love in all its forms.'
EMMA KNIGHT, AUTHOR OF THE LIFECYCLE OF THE COMMON OCTOPUS
‘Tender, wise, deeply satisfying and so beautifully written – I adored this gorgeous, grown-up love story’
DAISY BUCHANAN, AUTHOR OF PITY PARTY
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL OF 2026
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.
It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?
The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.
Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.
Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?
Tender and compelling, People in Love is a story about what-ifs and maybes, and the moments of misunderstanding that can shape our lives. It’s a book about living one life while musing on another, exploring how our choices shape our relationships and inform our regrets, and revealing, in the end, that the real love story is not always the one you'd expect.
PRAISE FOR TALKING AT NIGHT
'I was rapt'
ANN NAPOLITANO
'A perfect thing'
CHRIS WHITAKER
'So gorgeously harrowing and romantic'
CATHERINE NEWMAN
'Tender and true, this is a stunning debut that reminded me of Sally Rooney'
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'A classic love story in every sense, and yet in Claire Daverley's hands, it felt entirely new'
MARY BETH KEANE
'A beautifully observed, tender love story'
JOJO MOYES
'A passionate, page-turning debut'
DAILY MAIL
Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 4, 2026
3416 people want to read
About the author
Claire Daverley
5 books842 followersAfter graduating with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Oxford, Claire Daverley began a career in publishing, writing about books by day but penning her own by night (or rather, very early in the morning). She currently lives in Scotland with her husband and spaniel. Talking at Night is her debut novel, and has been sold in twenty-four territories to date.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Want to read
September 19, 2025WE HAVE A TITLE WE HAVE A DATE FINALLY
January 23, 2026
Don’t mind me whilst I just stare at the wall for the foreseeable…..
She’s done it again folks.
Thanks so much to Michael Joseph for my copy. Review will be coming soon on insta
She’s done it again folks.
Thanks so much to Michael Joseph for my copy. Review will be coming soon on insta
Want to read
January 24, 2026haven't updated in a while but a title!!!!! and the description sounds so good!!! Claire i love you <3
YESSSSSSS NEW CLAIRE DAVERLEY BOOK (.... in a years time) .. absolutely begging for an arc in advance pls Claire i'm your biggest fan (literally on my profile) <333
inserting my review of the brilliant Talking at Night here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
YESSSSSSS NEW CLAIRE DAVERLEY BOOK (.... in a years time) .. absolutely begging for an arc in advance pls Claire i'm your biggest fan (literally on my profile) <333
inserting my review of the brilliant Talking at Night here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Want to read
October 3, 2024eeeek i cannot wait for this stop
Review of advance copy received from Author
'Talking at Night' was my favourite read of 2023. It fixed itself onto my heart and refused to let go, with me quoting it as my soul book. So, as soon as a proof copy of 'People in Love' found its way into my hands (eternally grateful to Claire Daverley for making this happen) I started reading it almost instantly.
'People in Love' is a careful but tender look at "the one that got away" and that "what if" which always lingers from your past. It asks the question of whether it's possible to have a "right person, wrong time". It forces us to examine the answer to whether a "what if" person can change course over life and circumstance.
As with 'Talking at Night', the writing is exquisite. It feels stripped back. Bare, but charged with emotion. Intoxicating.
The way Claire Daverley writes is so relatable to me. Each sentence feels as if its talking directly to my soul.
The references to things from my own past adds to the connection, from simple things like when Bren and his mum watch 'Wild' (although its not stated, its obvious it was 'Wild') and Bren remembering Nora's love of scented pens (so nostalgic!), to the more philosophical musings of Bren reflecting on when Nora mentioned the fig tree annotation from 'The Bell Jar', and his sentiments perfectly mirroring my own.
This book is gorgeous! I cannot wait to thrust it into people's hands with the tag-line "you won't regret it".
'People in Love' is a careful but tender look at "the one that got away" and that "what if" which always lingers from your past. It asks the question of whether it's possible to have a "right person, wrong time". It forces us to examine the answer to whether a "what if" person can change course over life and circumstance.
As with 'Talking at Night', the writing is exquisite. It feels stripped back. Bare, but charged with emotion. Intoxicating.
The way Claire Daverley writes is so relatable to me. Each sentence feels as if its talking directly to my soul.
The references to things from my own past adds to the connection, from simple things like when Bren and his mum watch 'Wild' (although its not stated, its obvious it was 'Wild') and Bren remembering Nora's love of scented pens (so nostalgic!), to the more philosophical musings of Bren reflecting on when Nora mentioned the fig tree annotation from 'The Bell Jar', and his sentiments perfectly mirroring my own.
This book is gorgeous! I cannot wait to thrust it into people's hands with the tag-line "you won't regret it".
Want to read
December 9, 2025when i say i am SO ready for this ahhhhh!! we finally have a date <3
Read
November 5, 2025DNF, so I won't rate this...
Honestly, I know it's not finished-finished, but the novel is so confusingly written, my brain just can't compute.
Honestly, I know it's not finished-finished, but the novel is so confusingly written, my brain just can't compute.
December 5, 2025
I've never cried so many different forms of tears reading a book. Absolutely stunning
April 2, 2025
Giving this a 5 star already because i just KNOW i will love it. Remember when i said Talking at Night was my soul book? Well i have a feeling Claire will outdo herself. I cannot wait till i have this book in my hands (i have to wait until 2026???)
Want to read
January 5, 2025waiting VERY patiently for this book 🤗
December 31, 2025
And if anyone knows how to rip my heart out and put it all back together again in less than 400 pages, it’s Claire Daverley…
Claire Daverley’s debut novel ‘Talking at Night’ is easily one of my favourite novels, and so this book had big boots to fill…
I needn’t have worried, as once again I was captivated from the very beginning.
This is a tender and heartwarming, sometimes heart-wrenching, story about love. About what could have been, what should have been and what is. It’s beautiful and all consuming from the very beginning.
You fall in love with Nora and Bren, and you can’t help but root for them both individually. Their stories so intertwined yet pulled apart due to tragedy and misunderstandings. It’s a story of love and wishing you could have done things differently.
People in Love is a novel I cannot recommend enough. Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney, Taylor Jenkins Reid and Coco Mellors. It will leave you with your heart on your sleeve and tear tracks down your cheeks.
Claire Daverley’s debut novel ‘Talking at Night’ is easily one of my favourite novels, and so this book had big boots to fill…
I needn’t have worried, as once again I was captivated from the very beginning.
This is a tender and heartwarming, sometimes heart-wrenching, story about love. About what could have been, what should have been and what is. It’s beautiful and all consuming from the very beginning.
You fall in love with Nora and Bren, and you can’t help but root for them both individually. Their stories so intertwined yet pulled apart due to tragedy and misunderstandings. It’s a story of love and wishing you could have done things differently.
People in Love is a novel I cannot recommend enough. Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney, Taylor Jenkins Reid and Coco Mellors. It will leave you with your heart on your sleeve and tear tracks down your cheeks.
October 10, 2025
Daverley writes characters very well but I felt the plotting here relied slightly too much on coincidence and set-pieces.
I adored Talking at Night, partly because its subject matter felt close to home. People in Love is less personally relatable for me, which might explain some of the distance I felt. Overall though, the twists were often foreseeable and the necessarily tight cast felt slightly too isolated from the rest of the world for me to really believe in.
Daverley’s writing is good, and I’ll certainly keep up with whatever she does next, but this felt more ‘Beautiful World’ than ‘Intermezzo’! People in Love doesn’t reach the heights of Talking at Night for me, and I get what she was going for with the ending but I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. A couple of characters (Robin and Freya) felt underdeveloped/unrounded, and generally I would have liked to have seen Daverley take the handbrake off and trust the main characters to _feel_ more. The protagonsists’ emotional toils felt largely plot-driven in a way that shielded and overshadowed the endogenous spinning out / free-fall, the describing of which is where I think Daverley is at her best.
A decent follow-up novel but I’m sure better than this is to come.
(Tnx to friends at PRH for AR etc etc)
I adored Talking at Night, partly because its subject matter felt close to home. People in Love is less personally relatable for me, which might explain some of the distance I felt. Overall though, the twists were often foreseeable and the necessarily tight cast felt slightly too isolated from the rest of the world for me to really believe in.
Daverley’s writing is good, and I’ll certainly keep up with whatever she does next, but this felt more ‘Beautiful World’ than ‘Intermezzo’! People in Love doesn’t reach the heights of Talking at Night for me, and I get what she was going for with the ending but I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. A couple of characters (Robin and Freya) felt underdeveloped/unrounded, and generally I would have liked to have seen Daverley take the handbrake off and trust the main characters to _feel_ more. The protagonsists’ emotional toils felt largely plot-driven in a way that shielded and overshadowed the endogenous spinning out / free-fall, the describing of which is where I think Daverley is at her best.
A decent follow-up novel but I’m sure better than this is to come.
(Tnx to friends at PRH for AR etc etc)
January 6, 2026
I’m telling you this will TAKE OVER Booktok in June and AS IT SHOULD. It’s a Claire Daverley Summer and I hope she gets the hype she deserves!!!
This was phenomenal. She writes people so fucking well. So sad. So real. Yes yes yes
This was phenomenal. She writes people so fucking well. So sad. So real. Yes yes yes
January 13, 2026
Oh oh ohhhhhh!!! It’s even better than Talking At Night (which I didn’t think was possible?!). I want to take this book everywhere with me and hug it forever because it’s the kind of book I love the most. All the feels. All the stars. THANK YOU CLAIRE ❤️
December 13, 2025
I’ve been sitting quietly with @clairedaverley’s People In Love since I read it a few weeks ago. Absorbing it. I know I have a tendency to gush & wanted to do it justice. Often, as time passes, the strength of my reaction mellows. Not here. 🩵
I wasn’t meant to start it when I did - just flicking through my upcoming proofs stack - but it was impossible to put down. And oh my heart! Ripped up, aching, this tale of secrets shared, truths told, grief gentled. I read it breathless and heart heavy. Became obsessed with Nora, Robin and Bren. Had a very clear sense of what I thought should happen (how wrong I was). All upended by this wild, wonderful story, which was so beautiful and made me cry.
It starts on a cold February morning with an unexpected proposal. After years together, Nora and Robin always said they didn’t need a wedding. Nora truly thought she didn’t want marriage. But when she saw the ring something clicked into place; why wouldn’t she say yes? Now she and Robin are planning a wedding. Excited. Trying to not let it get out of hand.
But when Bren, Nora’s oldest and best friend, turns up on their doorstep on the night of the engagement party, the road not taken is unavoidable. The future their teenage selves had intended together, turned upside down by loss, brought back into focus. When Bren left, Nora had stayed. How does she now make sense of the spark still between them? Does she long for Bren, or for what might have been? And what does that mean for her and Robin?
This is a story about what it means to love someone. How vast and encompassing that love can be; the subtlety and nuance. It’s about choices and secrets, misunderstandings and regret. How they shape our lives. How forgiveness is always a choice. But ultimately the life we choose and the people we love, they are what make us.
What a miracle it is, life, made up of the little things, the everyday. How lucky we are to have loved ones to share it with. And this gorgeous book, I finished it, my heart a little lighter. Glad, so glad. What a joy.
I wasn’t meant to start it when I did - just flicking through my upcoming proofs stack - but it was impossible to put down. And oh my heart! Ripped up, aching, this tale of secrets shared, truths told, grief gentled. I read it breathless and heart heavy. Became obsessed with Nora, Robin and Bren. Had a very clear sense of what I thought should happen (how wrong I was). All upended by this wild, wonderful story, which was so beautiful and made me cry.
It starts on a cold February morning with an unexpected proposal. After years together, Nora and Robin always said they didn’t need a wedding. Nora truly thought she didn’t want marriage. But when she saw the ring something clicked into place; why wouldn’t she say yes? Now she and Robin are planning a wedding. Excited. Trying to not let it get out of hand.
But when Bren, Nora’s oldest and best friend, turns up on their doorstep on the night of the engagement party, the road not taken is unavoidable. The future their teenage selves had intended together, turned upside down by loss, brought back into focus. When Bren left, Nora had stayed. How does she now make sense of the spark still between them? Does she long for Bren, or for what might have been? And what does that mean for her and Robin?
This is a story about what it means to love someone. How vast and encompassing that love can be; the subtlety and nuance. It’s about choices and secrets, misunderstandings and regret. How they shape our lives. How forgiveness is always a choice. But ultimately the life we choose and the people we love, they are what make us.
What a miracle it is, life, made up of the little things, the everyday. How lucky we are to have loved ones to share it with. And this gorgeous book, I finished it, my heart a little lighter. Glad, so glad. What a joy.
Want to read
September 7, 2025I need to read this yesterday
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews