It is hard to imagine a more timely novel. A fascinating exploration of all sides of a particularly knotty, politicized issue.' Jodi Picoult Transworld has pre-empted The Herd by Emily Edwards, a book club novel about two women who, for differing reasons, don't have their children vaccinatedwhich leads to devastating consequences. Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex A very tense and extremely well done end court case with a finale that will as the blurb suggests create a lot of discussion in book groups After studying at Edinburgh University, Emily Edwards worked for a think tank in New York before returning to London where she worked as a support worker for vulnerable women at a large charity. She now lives in Lewes, East Sussex with her endlessly patient husband and her two endlessly energetic young sons.

Each one desperately living their offspring. Mistakes easily made having a domino effect on another with consequences unforgivable. And, unfortunate. But with well meaning at that time. Ultimately though, I think the message is that there is no right or wrong answer to a question like vaccination. It’s all shades of grey and opinion but people aren’t willing to listen to the ‘other’. This book provoked one of the biggest reactions I’ve seen on The Pigeonhole online book club, from those on both sides of the vaccination debate and also right down the middle of the road. It’s well crafted, certainly an excellent debut and very definitely a book of our time.A white lie told just before Elizabeth’s young daughters birthday party takes an unimaginable turn. Even though there are opinions in the book it is pretty much 50/50 so if you are wary its going to be anti or pro vax then don’t be, it genuinely seeks to offer both sides of the arguement, morally and otherwise based around the story told, I liked it was so impartial and the author chose not to add her feelings/views into the story ( as quite a few tend to on various topics nowadays ) bravo to her on that front It's clever. It's less manipulative than I expected, but somehow a book about vaccination that ISN'T about Covid getting released in the middle of a global pandemic already feels a bit like it's missing the zeitgeist. Interesting ideas, different perspectives, and quite a good pace all make this well worth a read. However the story then seemed to become more about revenge than responsibility and the betrayed mother became the villain of the piece and her friend, who had lied to her and put her child in danger, was painted as the victim in all ways and took on that role with aplomb. Added to this there were circumstances that didn’t make sense – Clemmie was allowed to go to parties with unvaccinated children, and to school with them, but they were banned from her birthday party. These were things that confused me and I wasn’t sure if they were meant to not make sense and confuse the issue further, or whether it was an oversight. I was also a bit disappointed that the court case outcome hinged on a technicality that would have been dismissed in the very first rounds of due diligence and that I and my other book club readers had spotted as a potential banana skin very early on.

A genuine rollercoaster that asks big moral questions with beautifully drawn characters.' Sharon Horgan, co-creator of CATASTROPHEThe Herd is a wonderful book, skilfully written, compassionate and balanced. It grips from the start and doesn't let go, sending us on a journey that's both timely and controversial, through masterful storytelling, brilliantly drawn characters and huge swathes of emotion. Jenny Quintana Controversial, addictive and clever, and the characters are so multi-layered and complex they are wholly believable. Woman & Home More so than ever, we live in a polarised world,’ says Emily. ‘With Brexit it’s, are you in or are you out? With vaccines it’s, are you for them or against them? Battle lines and sides are drawn up without pausing to try and understand why the other person thinks and feels that way. Every opinion we have is weighted with our own experiences, and the different pressures we feel from those around us. I wanted the reader to see that in life there isn’t always a straightforward right or wrong.’