Beatrice Alright is the queen of silver linings. She can find a spark of hope in any situation. Even when her partner delivers earth-shattering news that leaves Bea and their four-year-old, Ellie, without a home, she refuses to panic. 

Because Bea believes that what she does have is more important – her job at St Helen’s Hospital, which offers a warm, dry shelter for her and Ellie to stay while she figures things out. By day Bea cleans the wards, by night she tucks her daughter into bed between mops and buckets.

And tries so hard to hold on to hope.

When Bea sees an old man sitting on a cold and lonely bench outside the hospital, she really doesn’t have time to stop. She should be clearing up her own mess, not worrying about this cantankerous stranger. But Bea can’t help herself…

As she slowly starts to draw out Malcolm’s heartbreaking story, could this simple act of kindness begin to heal a decades-old pain? And might finding peace for Malcolm help Bea in ways she didn’t even know she needed?

A moving, emotional and uplifting story about second chances and chosen families guaranteed to break your heart and patch it back up again. The perfect book for fans of The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, A Man Called Ove and The Keeper of Stories.