ROBERT CRAIG

MORE LIKE WRESTLING THAN DANCING

‘A superbly crafted second novel’ Daily Express
‘Craig's treatment of the girls is warm-hearted, fond, and full of foible-driven laughs, but it's the men's web of subterfuge which provokes the real side-clutching.’ i-D Magazine

Sex and the City girls Anna and Natasha are looking for fun, love and money. But they're stuck with the dregs of Bradford manhood... Anna and Natasha are two old friends who share a grotty flat in Bradford. By day they work side by side in a shoe shop, and on Saturday nights they frequent the dodgy local nightclub, The Apollo. There, they’re becoming increasingly fed up with the calibre of men they meet – stupid, offensive, boring or all of the above. The friends visit the upmarket club, Bartok’s, where Anna meets Richard and Natasha, Geoffrey. Everything seems perfect but the course of true love does not run smooth: Richard is married, and Geoffrey is living a lie… This is a witty, compelling and eye-opening expose of the single life, friendship, and the realities of trying to get romantic relationships to work. '...intelligent but never high-faluting, earthy but never crude, realistic but never boring' Bradford Telegraph & Argus

'Craig's treatment of the girls is warm-hearted, fond, and full of foible-driven laughs, but it's the men's web of subterfuge which provokes the real side-clutching". i-D Magazine"Bradford postman-turned novelist Robert Craig's second book takes the standard chick-lit storyline into murky waters, and emerges with a sort of Liver Birds for the new millennium. A tale of misplaced optimism,female friendship and sparky good humour against all the odd.' Big Issue in the North

'Craig's second novel explores female relationships and how far they'll stretch when other factors such as men are thrown into the equation. But he's clever to address other relationships too, including warring parents, unhappy siblings, and a nightmare boss. This is a story with real-life dilemmas and plausible solutions, certain to pull in intelligent readers interested in the psychological and sociological aspects of relationships' Time Out

' Craig is a very funny, imaginative writer who seems to know how women think.' Glasgow Evening Times

Material: Finished copies (309 pages)

Sales: Weidenfeld & Nicolson UK; Bastei Luebbe Germany; Red Fish Russia

COVER TO COVER

'Funny, intelligent and gripping - am impressive and enjoyable debut.' David Nobbs (author - The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

Tanya Stephens is a 29-year-old graphic designer who works for Ill Will, a greeting card company founded on the principle that British people can be atrociously rude to their friends with impunity.
Tanya herself is beginning not to see the point of having friends or even lovers. She has had one true lover, and a series of boyfriends who have variously become too keen, too needy or just mind-numbingly boring. She keeps Richard, her current boyfriend - a carpet-fitter - for sex, but has encounters with Carl - a road-sweeper - because he shares her love of books. Tanya is happy with her books, the occasional episode of Frasier, and her own dark imagination.

When Tanya finds a book ostensibly about her own life in a second-hand bookshop, the line between truth and reality begins to blur. Is her true love now happily married and working for the DVLA in Swansea? Did her mum sleep with her dad's best friend? On her quest to separate fact from fiction, Tanya is forced to question her place in the world and whether love can be a part of it. COVER TO COVER is a unique, witty, intelligent first novel by a postman from Bradford: a welcome antidote to the plethora of books about young, single women that will kick Bridget Jones right out of touch. 'A smart, funny novel...With its twisting plot and sharp observations, this is a wonderful debut from a talented new writer.' Sainsbury's Magazine, Paperback Choice

'After the (ex-) bus driver Magnus Mills, it's time for a Bradford postman to take a bow. Robert Craig has written "for as long as he can remember", but kept it from his colleagues of 15 years. Now the secret is out, for Cover to Cover – about a woman who isn't searching for Mr Right, but is happily single.' Independent

'As a sly dig at chick-lit and the readers who identify with the genre's heroines, this is an entertaining first novel.' Independent on Sunday

'Tanya Stephens is, to put it simply, a bitch. A graphic designer at a greetings card company, she spends most of her time reliving a past relationship, alienating everyone she knows and reading books. Stumbling into a second-hand bookshop she comes across The Counterfeit Confetti – a novel that literally describes her life.Craig’s debut novel is an intriguing read. It is a book about books and their effect on people. Reading becomes not just a form of escapism, but a place where an individual can have complete control over their life.There is something engaging about Tanya’s realness. She is the antithesis of Bridget Jones – irrational, moody and happy to be alone. Craig’s prose is as direct as Tanya’s attitude and makes Cover to Cover a well structured exploration of emotional relationships.' Francesca Gavin in The Times

'This is a funny book, with moments of real intelligence and insight that sets it apart from the rest.' Bristol Evening Post

Material: Finished Copies (280 pages)
Sales: Weidenfeld & Nicholson UK; Bastei Lubbe Germany; Host and Son Denmark; Kedros Greece; Magyar Konyvklub Hungary; Books@Books Korea.

ROBERT CRAIG (1963) has been working for the post office for 200 years, lives in Bradford, always has done and probably always will.