A is for Angelica

A is for Angelica is my debut novel, first published in 2012 by Legend Press. It's about a middle-aged man struggling to care for his seriously-ill wife while obsessing over the curious lives of his neighbours.

Fancy a sample? You can download the first few chapters or listen to the first 15 minutes of the audiobook version below.

Latest information

A is for Angelica is available in all good bookshops if you ask politely.

You can also order A is for Angelica from Bookshop.org, which means you'll be supporting independent bookshops while you're at it.

The ebook version of A is for Angelica is available on Amazon in the UK. You can also buy it on Amazon in the US, and on the Apple Books store.

A special edition of A is for Angelica was published by Legend Press on 20 April 2015. The book is part of a special anniversary collection of ‘iconic debut novels’ launched to celebrate 10 years of Legend titles.

The audiobook version of A is for Angelica is complete, unabridged and read by British actor, Tim Bruce. You can borrow it from libraries across the UK or buy the download from Audible UK or Audible US.

In 2014, A is for Angelica won a Coventry Inspiration Book Award in the Word of Mouth category.

Since A is for Angelica was published, I have had four children and published zero books. These two things are heavily related. I'm currently working on a second novel and a collection of short fiction.

The official blurb

Gordon Kingdom struggles with the fate of his seriously-ill wife while patiently observing and methodically recording the lives of those around him: his neighbours.

“My life is different now. I don’t go to work. I don’t have an office. I stay at home, hide behind curtains and make notes. I wait for something to happen.”

He has files on them all, including:

• Don Donald (best friend and petty thief)
• Annie Carnaffan (lives next door, throws footballs over the fence)
• Benny (the boy who paints with his eyes closed).

And then Angelica, the new girl (42) on the street, with her multicoloured toenails and her filthy temper. It’s when she arrives that Gordon’s world of half-truths really begins to unravel.

Faced with a series of unexpected events and a faltering conscience, he’s left with an impossible decision. Because in the banality of everyday life, what would you do if the unthinkable happened?

Praise

Lots of people have said lovely things about A is for Angelica. Here are a few of my favourite sentences in the world.

A first novel that confidently moves from dark comedy that’s genuinely funny to even darker despair that grows from moving to harrowing. Really impressive. — Daily Mail

Presented in uncomplicated, unembellished prose, this is a brilliant and adeptly written debut novel, loaded with poignancy and feeling. — Time Out

A brilliant, dark comedy with beautiful moments of pathos — Nathan Filer, Costa Prize Winner 2013

A is for Angelica and MF is for Meticulously Funny. It will make you laugh out loud and feel bad about it afterwards. — Simon Crump, author of My Elvis Blackout and Neverland

A is for Angelica is a bold effort, and Broome’s uncomplicated prose pulls us through some potentially morbid subject matter with dexterity and humanity. — Now Then

An emotional twister that’s so good you won’t mind your feelings being manipulated as you won’t see it coming. — The Bookbag

Basically, if you don’t laugh and cry over A is for Angelica in almost equal measures then bears don’t deposit their personal waste in wooded areas and I’ll only read this book once. — The Bookbag

Broome’s magnificent and compulsive microscopic dissection of life in the suburbs was a joy to read from cover to cover, and is not only the best book I’ve read this year, but is also on my books for life list too. — Tom Gillespie

There are no misplaced or wasted words in this smashing debut. Broome will no doubt be a rising talent to watch in literary fiction. — Sinead Keegan

I think this is a haunting and powerful first novel ... a book I shall certainly read again. — Newbooks