The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne

by Freya North

When your present meets your past, what do you take with you - and what do you leave behind?

Eadie Browne is a quirky kid living in a small town where nothing much happens. Bullied at school, she muddles her way through the teenage years with best friends Celeste and Josh until University takes them their separate ways.

Arriving in Manchester as a student in the late 1980s, Eadie experiences a novel freedom and it's intoxicating. As the city embraces the dizzying euphoria of Rave counterculture, Eadie is swept along, ignoring danger and reality. Until, one night, her past comes hurtling at her with consequences she could never have imagined.

Now, as the new millennium approaches, Eadie is thirty with a marriage in tatters, travelling back to the town of her birth for a funeral she can't quite comprehend. As she journeys from the North to the South, from the present to the past, Eadie contemplates all that was then and all that is now - and the loose ends that must be tied before her future can unfold.

Genres: Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2024

About the author

Freya North is the author of many bestselling novels which have been translated into numerous languages. She was born in London but lives in rural Hertfordshire, where she writes from a stable in her back garden. A passionate reader since childhood, Freya was originally inspired by Mary Wesley, Rose Tremain and Barbara Trapido: fiction with strong and original characters. To hear about events, competitions and what she’s writing, join her on Facebook, Twitter and her website.

Reviews

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute perfection! I've been reading Freya North for years and with every book she just keeps getting better. I read this in a couple of sittings and adored every page. It's a funny, heartfelt, nostalgic, wise and beautiful novel about friendship, love and finding one's place in the world. With a cast of compelling characters led by the indomitable Eadie Browne there is never a dull moment. I laughed, cried, shouted with joy and finished the last page with a sense of completion tinged with sadness. This will be a book I will return to again and again - wonderful!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely read, it was easy to read,sincere, could hear the characters voices when I was reading. It was lovely going back over eadies past life, seeing her growing up and bringing up to date to now. I enjoyed all the characters, her best friends, the lives at the cemetery. I really recommend.

[Esme Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found this one quite difficult to get into, but once i got past the youngest years of the character and into the more relatable years in her late teens/early twenties i really started to love this.

[Rowena Onions · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated the sing song monotonous reading of the Audible version of this book... it spoiled it for me. I think I would have enjoyed it with a different reader. As it was, there were too many times when I wanted to throttle Eadie for real enjoyment.

[Hel Cruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprise book. Maybe not one I would have selected myself, but my mate posted it to me as a surprise.

It was a surprise. I Loved it! Eadie is not quite regular. At School she was "Centrist". At Uni she came into her own, like so many of us do.

[Sally G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a difficult read, the main character was frustrating at times. Quite repetitive. The last couple of chapters made it.

[Joanne Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely my book of the year. I loved the characters and the descriptions of The Hacienda. The author captured the 70's and 80's so well.

[Lucy Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Joanne Catherine Jwanczuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was completely pulled into Eadie Browne's world. A novel about friendship and love whilst trying to navigate the early stages of discovering who you are.