''Sorry to wake you in the middle of the night, but we have a lady here who''s not very well. She says she''s called Marigold, Queen of the Sky?'' Dolphin Westward spent her childhood as the supporting character in the story of her beautiful, wild, volatile mother Marigold. Now thirty-three, she''s painfully aware that not much has changed. She lives in a tiny bedsit, works in a tattoo shop by day and collects her illustrated mum from police stations by night. Dol yearns to climb out of the rut she is stuck in, but has no idea where to begin. Could gardener Lee and his daughter Ava be her chance for a wholesome family life? Or maybe a steamy romance with roguish actor Joel is just what she needs. And what about the offer from her sister Star, now a successful doctor, to move to Scotland and live with her young family? As the choices threaten to overwhelm her, will Dol fall into the role of extra in someone else''s story once again - or find the strength to forge a brand new path of her own?

Autorentext

Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain's bestselling and most beloved children's authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold.

As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children's Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children's Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.

Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain's bestselling and most beloved children's authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold.

As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children's Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children's Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.

Find out more about Jacqueline and her books at **www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk**

Klappentext

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Millions grew up loving The Illustrated Mum**; now you can curl up this festive period and find out what happens next in this joyful adult sequel by the world's favourite comfort author, Jacqueline Wilson!**

Dolphin Westward is done putting everyone else first - especially her unpredictable mother, Marigold. But how do you break the habit of a lifetime?

When she meets Lee, the kind single dad next door, she glimpses the wholesome family life she's always wanted. Then Joel crashes into her world - a rugged, magnetic actor who makes her feel truly seen - and suddenly Dolphin finds herself torn between two very different futures.

It's not long before everything begins to unravel, and her picture-perfect life feels further away than ever.

Faced with losing it all, can she learn to stop chasing perfection and start being herself?

READERS ARE OBSESSED WITH PICTURE IMPERFECT:

'Jacqueline Wilson is a national treasure! Picture Imperfect is at once beautiful, sad, and uplifting' - Alice Winn

'I devoured this entire book in one sitting . . . it catapulted me out of a reading slump'

'There's something so comforting about reading a Jacqueline Wilson book . . . You can just sink into it'

'Picture Imperfect is everything I didn't know I needed: tender, messy and deeply relatable'

'10/10 would recommend to anyone who loved Jacqueline Wilson as a child, and to anyone who's never read her before this is just the perfect novel of 'adult trying to sort their mess of a life out'

'A nostalgic hug from the past'

'It's real, raw and completely relatable'

'I obviously hoovered it up. There's something about the way Jacqueline Wilson writes that gets me racing through every page!'

'I absolutely adored diving back into the world of The Illustrated Mum. . . It brought all the nostalgia. I could not put this down'

Instant Sunday Times bestseller, August 2025