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‘If you loved Eleanor Oliphant, try this brilliant new read. We completely fell in love with this funny, uplifting debut’ Fabulous Magazine

‘A magnificent read. Tender, funny, compelling’ Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Hunting Party

Sometimes you have to risk everything to find your something…

All Andrew wants is to be normal. He has the perfect wife and 2.4 children waiting at home for him after a long day. At least, that’s what he’s told people.

The truth is, his life isn’t exactly as people think and his little white lie is about to catch up with him.

Because in all Andrew’s efforts to fit in, he’s forgotten one important thing: how to really live. And maybe, it’s about time for him to start.

Your favourite authors have all got Something to Live For…

‘Funny, moving and uplifting…I loved it’ Libby Page, bestselling author of The Lido

‘Heart-breaking. Hilarious. Life-affirming’ Holly Bourne, bestselling author of How Do You Like Me Now?

‘Funny, moving and thought-provoking – I loved this’ Clare Mackintosh, bestselling author of Let Me Lie

‘I completely fell under its spell. It pulls you in, makes you laugh and breaks your heart – in short, does everything that you want a novel to do. What an extraordinary debut’ Gill Hornby, bestselling author of The Hive


‘Endearing and delightful’ Prima Book of the Month

‘Funny, tender and all-the-feels’ Red

‘A perfect, quirky summer page-turner. A life-affirming debut’ The Times


** This book is published in the US under the title How Not to Die Alone **

What's Inside

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Reviews

Rebecca Thomas, BBC NEWS ONLINE, Best Fiction of 2019
The story Roper tells is a charming, humorous and life-affirming tale about human kindness that strikes a chord in a world where loneliness is a growing problem.
Clare Mackintosh
Funny, moving and thought-provoking - I loved this.
Gill Hornby
Like everyone else, I completely fell under its spell. It pulls you in, makes you laugh and breaks your heart - in short, does everything that you want a novel to do. Every character is round and real - from dear old Andrew, through the wonderful Peggy - oh, Peggy! - to the anonymous woman in the cloud of perfume who lives downstairs. While it is very much in the David Nicholls' tradition of sympathetic quirk and comedy, it is, at the same time, so fresh and different. I loved the voice, the people, the world..... Who couldn't? What an extraordinary debut.
Lucy Foley, author of THE HUNTING PARTY
Tender, funny, compelling - this wonderful book deserves to be huge!
Eleanor Brown, author of The Weird Sisters
Wryly funny and quirkily charming - perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Holly Bourne
Just finished Something To Live For with tears running down my cheeks. Heart-breaking. Hilarious. Life-affirming. Some descriptions of loneliness took my breath away. This book deserves to be HUGE.
Libby Page, author of THE LIDO
Funny, moving and uplifting... I loved it.
Matt Dunn
A life-affirming novel that simultaneously tweaks your funny-bone and tugs at your heartstrings. Brilliant!
Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of the THE FLATSHARE
Warmed my heart, broke it a little, then put it back together
THE NEW YORK TIMES
I loved this novel with my whole heart.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
[An] off-beat and winning debut..., [Something To Live For] earns its pathos. Even more to its credit, it gives resiliency and the triumph of the human spirit a good name.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Darkly humorous.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Roper's delightful debut is as funny as it is touching... This story of a neurotic, tenderhearted man struggling to learn how not to be alone is irresistible.
BOOKLIST
Tragic, sweet, and hopeful... This novel will appeal to fans of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
KIRKUS REVIEWS
Quirky and heartfelt... Andrew's past traumas are revealed gradually, and the reasons behind his isolation are heartbreaking and poignant. A moving and funny look at grief, hope, and the power of human connections.
USA TODAY
Gentle comedy and these characters' innately kind natures enriches what might have been starkly sad moments... [Roper] admirably tackles a painful subject with goodhearted characters it's easy to root for.
Nina Pottell, PRIMA
Endearing and delightful.
Sarra Manning, RED
It's no surprise that TV rights to this funny, tender and all-the-feels book have already been snapped up.
Sharmaine Lovegrove, SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
This perfect, quirky summer page-turner... a life-affirming debut.
Caroline Smailes
Nick Hornby and David Nicholls' quirky love child would write like Richard Roper. Something to Live For is endearing, funny and life-affirming, with a perfect dose of loneliness and human kindness
Claire Frost
A definite contender for my book of the year . . . funny, heartbreaking and cleverly observed
Eithne Farry, SUNDAY EXPRESS S MAGAZINE
A sweetly poignant debut.
Claire Frost, FABULOUS
If you loved Eleanor Oliphant, try this brilliant new read... We completely fell in love with this funny, uplifting debut.
Patricia Nicol, SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE
Endearing.
Zoe West, WOMAN'S WEEKLY
A wonderful debut that's heartbreaking, uplifting and laugh-out-loud funny... an inspiring, life-affirming read.
Natasha Harding, THE SUN
This is a story that gets under your skin - and a must read.
SUNDAY HERALD
Richard Roper's debut is heart-breaking, uplifting, funny and brimming with human kindness.
WATERSTONES
A poignant, superbly funny debut novel about love, loneliness and the many ways life doesn't always go to plan.
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Life-affirming...moments of hilarity while conveying a message about stepping out of comfort zones
WOMAN'S OWN
A wonderful debut that's heartbreaking, uplifting and laugh-out-loud funny all at once.
David Sexton, EVENING STANDARD
Eleanor Oliphant for men
Anne Cater, DAILY EXPRESS
Something To Live For is a heart-warming, funny yet poignant debut novel. Exploring loneliness and family breakdown, Richard Roper has created a cast of colourful and weirdly wonderful characters. An uplifting and life-affirming read.
Fanny Blake, DAILY MAIL
A poignant but uplifting novel that's related with great compassion and humour.
Thomas Barrie, GQ
This could almost be the tie-in novel for a Richard Curtis romcom... Something To Live For benefits from the same earnest charm.
Sarah Gilmartin, IRISH TIMES
Richard Roper has crafted a compelling mystery in this clever and uplifting debut... Something to Live For is a story about the problems we encounter as human beings and the connections that save us.
Dinah Jefferies via Twitter
A beautiful, heart-warming laugh out loud story.
MY WEEKLY
This magnificent debut is a must for your summer reading list - heartbreaking, funny and tender, it has it all!
Helena Gumley-Mason, THE LADY
As hilarious as it is heart-breaking... a truly memorable and quirky read: unusual and sometimes side-splittingly funny.