The Space Between Us : This year's most life-affirming, awe-inspiring read - Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2023

Connecting will change everything... Lennox is a troubled teenager with no family. Ava is eight months pregnant and fleeing her abusive husband. Heather is a grieving mother and cancer sufferer. They don'' t know each other, but when a meteor streaks over Edinburgh, all three suffer instant, catastrophic strokes... ...only to wake up the following day in hospital, miraculously recovered. When news reaches them of an octopus-like creature washed up on the shore near where the meteor came to earth, Lennox senses that some extra-terrestrial force is at play. With the help of Ava, Heather and a journalist, Ewan, he rescues the creature they call ''Sandy'' and goes on the run. But they aren'' t the only ones with an interest in the alien ... close behind are Ava'' s husband, the police and a government unit who wants to capture the creature, at all costs. And Sandy'' s arrival may have implications beyond anything anyone could imagine...

An adrenaline-filled ride of a novel, laced with empathy and understanding for our instinctual need to connect'' Rachelle Atalla '' A clever and unusual read ... I was on a journey with these characters, and completely transfixed'' Susi Holliday '' Doug Johnstone held me spellbound with this mesmerising tale of wonder and hope'' Marion Todd