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The One True Thing
"How can I truthfully tell you I'm sorry, when the worst thing I ever did has turned out to be the best?"
Bridget feels compromised. By marrying Anthony Harper and moving to Wildings, his family home for three generations, she's abandoned her urban roots for rural affluence and comfort she hasn't earned. As Anthony becomes increasingly difficult and their marriage founders, she immerses herself in her new career as gardener and designer. Conscience urges her to leave him; but with her identity and status so closely bound to the garden she knows intimately, how can she? Soon circumstances mean that a split with Anthony is at first essential, then impossible ...
When Meg, a young stonemason, rents a workshop at Wildings, she wants only to be independent and alone. In the exacting craft of cutting letters in stone she finds meaning and purpose, her one true thing. But in spite of her resolve to avoid emotional attachments, she's drawn into intense with Bridget and with Adam, another artist-in-residence whose confident manner and bold abstract paintings mask deep inner conflict. She finds herself caught between competing claims of loyalty, trust and desire.
A generation on, Jane, the youngest Harper daughter, is left aimless and adrift when Anthony dies suddenly, with the surprise in his Will that he had another son, unknown to the family. Now Wildings must be sold. Everything is in turmoil - work, home, her on-off relationship with Tom. Who is the stranger who's to inherit a third of the estate? Where will she go, and how will she face the future alone? Aware that Meg and her mother each had an absorbing focus for their energy and passion, she is unsure where to find her own - but without it, what's the purpose of her life?
Now far from Wildings, but bound by a promise to support Jane, Meg is unable to be honest about the secrets she knows from both parents - or thinks she knows. Having thought of herself as the observer who saw everything, she's forced to realise how much she failed to see - and the cost to herself and to those she loves.
When the ground shifts, where is one true thing to be found?
Bridget feels compromised. By marrying Anthony Harper and moving to Wildings, his family home for three generations, she's abandoned her urban roots for rural affluence and comfort she hasn't earned. As Anthony becomes increasingly difficult and their marriage founders, she immerses herself in her new career as gardener and designer. Conscience urges her to leave him; but with her identity and status so closely bound to the garden she knows intimately, how can she? Soon circumstances mean that a split with Anthony is at first essential, then impossible ...
When Meg, a young stonemason, rents a workshop at Wildings, she wants only to be independent and alone. In the exacting craft of cutting letters in stone she finds meaning and purpose, her one true thing. But in spite of her resolve to avoid emotional attachments, she's drawn into intense with Bridget and with Adam, another artist-in-residence whose confident manner and bold abstract paintings mask deep inner conflict. She finds herself caught between competing claims of loyalty, trust and desire.
A generation on, Jane, the youngest Harper daughter, is left aimless and adrift when Anthony dies suddenly, with the surprise in his Will that he had another son, unknown to the family. Now Wildings must be sold. Everything is in turmoil - work, home, her on-off relationship with Tom. Who is the stranger who's to inherit a third of the estate? Where will she go, and how will she face the future alone? Aware that Meg and her mother each had an absorbing focus for their energy and passion, she is unsure where to find her own - but without it, what's the purpose of her life?
Now far from Wildings, but bound by a promise to support Jane, Meg is unable to be honest about the secrets she knows from both parents - or thinks she knows. Having thought of herself as the observer who saw everything, she's forced to realise how much she failed to see - and the cost to herself and to those she loves.
When the ground shifts, where is one true thing to be found?
Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2025
2 people want to read
About the author
Linda Newbery
86 books54 followersLinda Newbery's latest novel for adults is THE ONE TRUE THING. She has published widely for readers of all ages, and is a Costa Prize category winner with SET IN STONE, a young adult Victorian mystery. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with THE SHELL HOUSE and SISTERLAND.
With friends Adele Geras and Celia Rees, Linda hosts the literary blog WRITERS REVIEW, which features reviews, recommendations, interviews with authors and insights from booksellers.
Linda is an active campaigner on animal and environmental issues and has published a guide to compassionate living: THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE - ANIMALS AND US.
She lives in rural Oxfordshire.
With friends Adele Geras and Celia Rees, Linda hosts the literary blog WRITERS REVIEW, which features reviews, recommendations, interviews with authors and insights from booksellers.
Linda is an active campaigner on animal and environmental issues and has published a guide to compassionate living: THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE - ANIMALS AND US.
She lives in rural Oxfordshire.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2025
3.5 or 4 stars can’t decide. Very beautiful I cried literally within the first 20 pages which is crazy but all the emotions were just written so well. Minus stars because the plot twist was kinda random and a bit unbelievable. But the rest was so real I felt like I was all of the characters at the same time. Loved the connection to the garden and the swifts!
Also mad that there’s less than 10 reviews for this.
Also mad that there’s less than 10 reviews for this.
April 25, 2025
This book was only published yesterday and I feel enormously privileged to have had an advance copy to read as it was fabulous.
If you would like to read my full review of this book please visit my blog at:
https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp...
If you would like to read my full review of this book please visit my blog at:
https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp...
June 2, 2025
Wow! What a read. The way Linda writes this story is absolutely beautiful. The imagery is breathtaking and I can really picture everything she described. The concept that everyone has their ‘one true thing’ is so clever and makes me want to explore what my ‘one true thing’ might be. Would fully recommend. I could not put this book down.
January 23, 2026
There are novels we read, and then there are novels that read us, that gently but insistently turn the pages of our own hearts, asking the quiet, formidable questions we often avoid. "The One True Thing" is a profound and breathtaking work of the latter kind. It is a stunning tapestry, not just of interconnected lives, but of the very threads, love, regret, loyalty, and liberation, that bind and sometimes choke us. To read it is to be immersed in a world so vividly and tenderly rendered that you forget you are reading; you feel you are remembering.
From its haunting, central paradox, "How can I truthfully tell you I'm sorry, when the worst thing I ever did has turned out to be the best?", the novel sets a course through the most treacherous and beautiful waters of the human condition. With the grace of a master storyteller, Newbery guides us through the parallel journeys of Jane, adrift in sudden grief and seismic family revelation, and Meg, the stone carver whose quiet observations mask a deeper, more painful involvement in the heart of the family’s history.
The genius of this book lies in its exquisite balance. The prose, as the Financial Times rightly notes, is wonderful: precise, lyrical, and deeply atmospheric. You can feel the cool solidity of Meg’s stone, the enclosed air of Wildings, the weight of promises and the ache of silences. Yet this beautiful writing never obscures the raw, emotional truth of the characters. Bridget’s trapped existence within a stifling marriage, Meg’s fierce desire for independence clashing with her deep loyalties, and Jane’s bewildered quest for solid ground, each perspective is rendered with such empathy and authenticity that you inhabit them completely.
This is a novel about the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and the shattering, necessary moment when those stories crumble. Meg’s realization, that the observer who “saw everything” failed to see the most crucial truths, is a moment of devastating power that resonates far beyond the page. It asks us, the readers: What have we failed to see in our own lives? What costly beauties have sprung from our deepest regrets?
Newbery has crafted a narrative that is both a compelling mystery, unraveling the past to understand the present, and a poignant meditation on the imperfect geometry of human relationships. It is "a beautifully complex tapestry," as Jane Rogers says, but it is more than that. It is a map of the soul, showing how our most profound losses can sometimes lead us, circuitously and painfully, to our most essential selves.
"The One True Thing" is a gift. It is for anyone who has ever loved deeply, erred grievously, or searched for that one solid piece of truth upon which to rebuild a life. It is a novel that doesn’t just seek to entertain, but to heal, to question, and ultimately, to affirm the resilience of the human spirit. Linda Newbery, thank you for this brave, luminous, and unforgettable work. You have touched something true, and in doing so, have touched every reader fortunate enough to find this book.
To potential readers: open these pages and prepare to be transformed. This is the novel you’ve been waiting to find.
From its haunting, central paradox, "How can I truthfully tell you I'm sorry, when the worst thing I ever did has turned out to be the best?", the novel sets a course through the most treacherous and beautiful waters of the human condition. With the grace of a master storyteller, Newbery guides us through the parallel journeys of Jane, adrift in sudden grief and seismic family revelation, and Meg, the stone carver whose quiet observations mask a deeper, more painful involvement in the heart of the family’s history.
The genius of this book lies in its exquisite balance. The prose, as the Financial Times rightly notes, is wonderful: precise, lyrical, and deeply atmospheric. You can feel the cool solidity of Meg’s stone, the enclosed air of Wildings, the weight of promises and the ache of silences. Yet this beautiful writing never obscures the raw, emotional truth of the characters. Bridget’s trapped existence within a stifling marriage, Meg’s fierce desire for independence clashing with her deep loyalties, and Jane’s bewildered quest for solid ground, each perspective is rendered with such empathy and authenticity that you inhabit them completely.
This is a novel about the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and the shattering, necessary moment when those stories crumble. Meg’s realization, that the observer who “saw everything” failed to see the most crucial truths, is a moment of devastating power that resonates far beyond the page. It asks us, the readers: What have we failed to see in our own lives? What costly beauties have sprung from our deepest regrets?
Newbery has crafted a narrative that is both a compelling mystery, unraveling the past to understand the present, and a poignant meditation on the imperfect geometry of human relationships. It is "a beautifully complex tapestry," as Jane Rogers says, but it is more than that. It is a map of the soul, showing how our most profound losses can sometimes lead us, circuitously and painfully, to our most essential selves.
"The One True Thing" is a gift. It is for anyone who has ever loved deeply, erred grievously, or searched for that one solid piece of truth upon which to rebuild a life. It is a novel that doesn’t just seek to entertain, but to heal, to question, and ultimately, to affirm the resilience of the human spirit. Linda Newbery, thank you for this brave, luminous, and unforgettable work. You have touched something true, and in doing so, have touched every reader fortunate enough to find this book.
To potential readers: open these pages and prepare to be transformed. This is the novel you’ve been waiting to find.
June 5, 2025
This is a beautiful, excellently written novel about family secrets, unconventional loyalties and their effects over two generations. The three main characters – Bridget, trapped in an unsatisfactory marriage to Anthony but bound by ties that become clear as the novel progresses, her daughter Jane, a yoga teacher trying to find her way in life as she is faced with a number of surprises following her parents’ deaths, and Bridget’s close friend, the enigmatic, self-sufficient Meg, a stonemason – are intimately drawn with all their strengths and foibles. The story is told in chapters alternating between their points of view, through parallel timelines, from Bridget’s early life and the start of her friendship with Meg, through to the present day, after her death, as Jane seeks Meg’s help when she discovers her family is not what it seems. I felt emotionally involved with each of them in turn and came away feeling as if I’d made new friends.
The novel also portrays creativity and passion – the ‘one true thing’ of the title. Bridget is an award-winning gardener and Meg a skilled stonemason and letter-carver; both crafts with their skill sets are brought alive in wonderful detail, as is Jane’s yoga practice, while forming an integral part of the story. Another aspect Linda Newbery weaves in skilfully is the climate crisis and environmental concerns, mainly through Jane’s opinions and lifestyle choices, such as veganism – mentioned enough to make readers think but without didacticism.
Above all, this novel is about people, their relationships and their passions, both interpersonal and creative. I was truly immersed from start to finish and thoroughly recommended.
This is the first book from a new independent publisher, Writers Review Publishing – the standard is high and I look forward to reading what they produce next.
The novel also portrays creativity and passion – the ‘one true thing’ of the title. Bridget is an award-winning gardener and Meg a skilled stonemason and letter-carver; both crafts with their skill sets are brought alive in wonderful detail, as is Jane’s yoga practice, while forming an integral part of the story. Another aspect Linda Newbery weaves in skilfully is the climate crisis and environmental concerns, mainly through Jane’s opinions and lifestyle choices, such as veganism – mentioned enough to make readers think but without didacticism.
Above all, this novel is about people, their relationships and their passions, both interpersonal and creative. I was truly immersed from start to finish and thoroughly recommended.
This is the first book from a new independent publisher, Writers Review Publishing – the standard is high and I look forward to reading what they produce next.
March 12, 2026
I LOVED this book, I felt very at home reading it. I’m based in the Oxfordshire countryside and am in my early twenties so felt like I could’ve known Jane! Great twist!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews