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“A mystery and an elegy for the death of old-fashioned journalism, it’s a book that will warm your heart.” The Observer

“Splendid . . . Funny, poignant, perceptive and plenty of sharp elbows along the way.” Val McDermid


Thorn Marsh was raised in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half- finished sentences. Now she’s a journalist with a passion for truth, more devoted to her work at the London Journal than she ever was to her ex-husband.

When the newspaper is bought by media giant The Goring Group, who value sales figures over fact-checking, Thorn openly questions their methods, and promptly finds herself moved from the news desk to the midweek supplement, reporting heart-warming stories for their new segment, The Bright Side, a job to which she is spectacularly unsuited.

On a final warning and with no heart-warming news in sight, a desperate Thorn fabricates a good-news story of her own. The story, centred on an angelic apparition on Hampstead Heath, goes viral. Caught between her principles and her ambitions, Thorn goes in search of the truth behind her creation, only to find the answers locked away in the unconscious mind of a stranger.

Marika Cobbold returns with her eighth novel, On Hampstead Heath. Sharp, poignant, and infused with dark humour, On Hampstead Heath is an homage to storytelling and to truth; to the tales we tell ourselves, and the stories that save us.

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Reviews

Clare Chambers, author of SMALL PLEASURES
On Hampstead Heath is a deliciously romantic comedy of misunderstandings and misbehaviour - I loved it
Amanda Craig
With On Hampstead Heath, Marika Cobbold has rebooted the Hampstead Novel for the 21st century. A delightful novel
Josie Lloyd
A heart-warming and at times hilarious tale about truth and honesty in this treacherous age of social media
Elizabeth Buchan
A brilliant and brave take on fake news and its fallout
Frances Quinn, author of THE SMALLEST MAN
Clever and funny with a splinter of melancholy running through it. It's a superb read
Sarah Hughes, i paper
Few writers balance darkness and light as well as Cobbold
Tor Udall, author of A THOUSAND PAPER BIRDS
On Hampstead Heath was so refreshing and unexpectedly needed, like feeling the sun on your face in winter. Funny, astute, and aching in all the right ways, I was utterly charmed.
Katie Fforde
Marika Cobbold's look on life is unique
Adèle Geras
On Hampstead Heath is exactly what is needed at this time. A romantic story tempered with a sharp wit and written with knowledge and love of place in which it's set
Michelle Ryles, The Book Magnet
An absolute little gem of a book, On Hampstead Heath is entertaining, thought-provoking and extremely witty
Short Book and Scribes
A fabulous read. It's wise and perceptive, honest and witty
Emma Stonex
Brilliant and funny and darkly surprising