Braver : Shortlisted for the Writers' Guild Best First Novel Award

An uplifting story about the strength that can be drawn from friendship and community. Struggling with OCD and anxiety, Hazel sticks to rigid routines in order to cope with everyday life. But when she forms an unlikely friendship with Virginia, a church minister, Hazel begins to venture outside her comfort zone.

'An inspiring and heart-warming story' —People's FriendHazel has learned to survive, but mostly by hiding. Painfully shy and struggling with OCD, she isolates herself from others and sticks to her routines in order to cope. When an accident brings her to the notice of church minister, Virginia, at last she is seen. Virginia coaxes Hazel out into the world and an unlikely friendship blossoms, but the minister has problems of her own. Having rebuilt her life after a traumatic loss, she has become the backbone of her community, caring for those in need and mentoring disadvantaged young people, and it's wearing her down. When a shock accusation threatens to unravel everything she has worked for, her world is turned upside down. Will Hazel and Virginia's friendship survive, and will it be strong enough to pull them through?Told with warmth, compassion and gentle humour, Braver is an uplifting story about the strength that can be drawn from friendship and community.