Mia 'Rabbit' Hayes is a fighter, and the heart of her adoring, chaotic family. The cancer that's slowly taken over her body may be resolute, but Rabbit is stubborn too - she will not acknowledge that her diagnosis has just rapidly plummeted, or share this news with her 12-year-old daughter, Juliet. It would mean the beginning of saying goodbye, and neither is ready for that just yet. As Rabbit's family rally round her, armed with black humour and relentless optimism, they can see she's fading away. Soon the truth is clutching at them all: that against every fierce hope and heartfelt instinct,...

Maisie Bean is a fighter. Seventeen years ago, she went on a first date that went so badly it was enough to put the girl off chips. The marriage that followed was hell but it gave her two children: funny, caring Jeremy and bullish but brilliant Valerie. Just as it seems everything might finally start going right, Jeremy goes missing.

Below a Big Blue Sky will make you laugh, cry and shout with joy for the colourful, unruly Hayes family as they battle with the loss of their beloved Rabbit, the daughter, mother, sister and friend, who in her own crazy way taught each of them how to live, and goes on showing them how to love from beyond the grave.

She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever. Anna McPartlin's new novel is a powerful and poignant exploration of motherhood, filled with unique and unforgettable characters, as funny as it is moving, and as poignant as it is wise.