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Only Here, Only Now

The funny, moving and original debut from award-winning author Tom Newlands

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Only Here, Only Now

By: Tom Newlands
Narrated by: Amelia Leith
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About this listen

 Winner of the McKitterick Prize 2025
Shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2025
Runner up for the the ADCI Literary Prize 2025

'Absolutely loved this. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure'
DOUGLAS STUART

'Glorious . . . so unusual, so moving, so memorable'
GUARDIAN

'Tom Newlands may make several prize lists for his stunning debut'
OBSERVER

'This isn't just a great first novel; it's a great novel. And Cora, the mad, chaotic, wise, funny narrator, is one of the great characters'
RODDY DOYLE

'It's not every day you read a modern classic. But this feels destined to become one. A thunderous achievement'
NATHAN FILER

Fife, in the blazing hot summer of 1994. Cora Mowat's mates don't understand her, but then Cora Mowat doesn't understand herself. She's stuck on a seaside council estate full of dafties, old folk and seagulls, with a thousand dreams and a restless brain that won't behave. She's dying to escape but unsure of what the future holds - if it holds anything at all for a girl like her.

When her Mam's new boyfriend moves in, tensions rise in their tiny house. Gunner means well, but he's dodgy - a shaven-headed shoplifter with more than a few secrets stashed under the bed. As their attempts to forge a makeshift family unravel, Cora rails against her small-town existence in search of love, acceptance and a path to something good. But sometimes you can't move forward until you find your way back . . .

In this extraordinary debut, drawn from life but written with riotous imagination, Tom Newlands explores what it means to come of age in a forgotten corner of Scotland and dream of a life that feels out of reach. Vibrant, lyrical and fiercely funny, Only Here, Only Now is a story about poverty, identity and family that shines with hope and resilience.

'A fantastic debut novel . . . it's a corker'
KATHY BURKE

'Only Here, Only Now heralds the arrival of an urgent and unique new voice'
DAVID PEACE

'Cora Mowat is a feisty, Impulse-drenched, Lilt-blooded smasher of a main character and Tom Newland's prose is fierce and tender, taking us straight to the thudding heart of Cora's chaotic life'
VICTORIA MACKENZIE

'Tom Newlands is the real thing. His story will change you'
©2024 Tom Newlands Children's Health Coming of Age Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Relationships World Literature Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Funny Dream

Critic reviews

This isn't just a great first novel; it's a great novel. And Cora, the mad, chaotic, wise, funny narrator, is one of the great characters
It's not every day you read a modern classic. But this feels destined to become one. A thunderous achievement
Only Here, Only Now heralds the arrival of an urgent and unique new voice, as engaging and as startling as Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Morvern Callar or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and will surely be hailed as one of the great British debut novels
Tom Newlands is the real thing. His story will change you
A funny, truthful, heartbreaking yet hopeful read
An uncompromising story, finely told, with a feisty, urgent heart at its centre. I read in awe of Cora's resilience, while prickling with unease that anyone should have to find it in such measure
Tom Newland's Only Here, Only Now is a piercing howl of a novel, sharp, elegant and humane. I loved it
A breathtaking debut from an exciting new storytelling talent. Wise, funny, tragic and hopeful.Cora and her world are heart-rendingly authentic
An astonishing debut, full of grit, humour and truth. I defy you not to fall in love with Cora Mowat
I loved Only Here, Only Now. Tender, achingly funny and full of truth
Only Here, Only Now is one of the best debuts I've read in years. Cora Mowat is an iconic heroine, growing up against the odds; she's a feisty, Impulse-drenched, Lilt-blooded smasher of a main character and Tom Newland's prose is fierce and tender, taking us straight to the thudding heart of Cora's chaotic life. A wonderful, gut-wrenching, heart-soaring novel
In a tremendous act of empathy, in his debut novel Tom Newlands describes both an abandoned, neglected landscape - the small Scottish seaside town of Muircross after the collapse of the mining industry - and what it is like to be inside the mind of a young girl, Cora Mowat, who has undiagnosed ADHD. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this is a story of survival against grim odds, superbly spun by a narrator grappling to get to grips with both herself and the incomprehensible world around her. Cora Mowat is my kind of weirdo
A coming-of-age novel that takes the reader inside the brilliant, fizzing mind of a teenage girl with ADHD growing up in post-industrial Scotland. Funny and fierce
Heartbreaking and hilarious . . . the story of a Scottish girl with undiagnosed ADHD, trying to make sense of the world
Think Shuggie Bain. Think Trainspotting. Think The Cutting Room. You can add Tom Newlands to that list. Only Here, Only Now is the Scottish writer's debut novel and it's a brammer . . . A vivid, synesthetic piece of writing . . . What's thrilling is that the book goes in the directions you are not expecting. And at its heart there is the unmistakeable voice of this flawed, messy, anxious, kind of heroic teenage girl. The Scottish book of the summer
All stars
Most relevant
First of all, the performance was brilliant. I could feel the highs and lows of emotion, panic, joy, sorrow, excitement, all tne way through. Subtle changes in pitch for each character. Robin more so!
The story is beautifully written. Despite all of events Cora experiences, leading to her calmer destination, I'm so glad it didn't finish with her skipping through the sunset, arm in arm, saving the world, and everything perfect.......because let's face it, ADHD just isn't like that.

I have ADHD. I have placed book marks all over this audio to remind me of ways to describe it to others. The chaos, being trapped, super efficient, doing doing doing, freezing, numb, doing then thinking, headphones, running, not knowing, questioning, trusting, saying sorry and descriptions. Man, the descriptions in this book are bloody brilliant - not just brown but chip shop curry sauce brown- exactly, because it is exactly that. And frankly, using an unused fridge as a wardrobe sounds quite cool- (get it?), I'm considering it myself!

I loved this book, i think I'm gonna listen to it again! (unless something else grabs my attention!).

Thank you.

On the button.

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Had a wee tear in my eye when it ended. It’s a brilliantly written book, when you listen on audio the narration really can make or break it, the woman doing it was fantastic. Gonna miss these characters.

Just brilliant

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Cora absolutely owes Jo a huge debt of thanks for saving her from Best Kebab.

A close call

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A beautiful novel, brilliantly narrated. Only Here, Only Now grips you from the opening pages and the author’s use of simile and metaphor are sublime, beautiful, brilliant and often hilarious. The story unfolds in a way that has you laughing one moment and ‘greeting’ the next. An absolute joy of a book - and one that, in my opinion, sits alongside the novels of Douglas Stuart…which is some going.

Outstanding!

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A tale of a young person growing up in challenging circumstances. Good plot, brilliant language and characters.

Excellent listen

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