The Weight of a Thousand Feathers: Brian Conaghan

Utterly moving and heartbreakingly beautiful, this is a brilliant novel (The Sun, Five Star Review)

An emotional rollercoaster of a book, written with so much heart it bounces off of the page. The darkness is balanced by cracking dialogue and humour. A bold, life-affirming read' (The Irish Independent)

Conaghan is a sublime storyteller who can make the reader hang on his every last word (and all of the others) .Conaghan is sensitive and the dark plot retains a lightness. (Alex O’Connell, The Times, Children’s Book of the Week)

Although it's heartbreaking at times, there's also tenderness and humour .The tremendous empathy with which Conaghan writes about young people is impressive (The Irish Times)

Heart wrenching, honest, funny and bold, this exceptional novel about the life, loves and agonies of a young carer, and the love between a mum and her sons, is a storytelling triumph .Always warm and witty, and never sentimental, this raw portrait of real-life ravages is suffused in the magic of the human heart. Bobby is an unforgettable, inspirational character - we could all do with taking a leaf from Bobby's book of strength and wit - and author Brian Conaghan is a writer of the highest rank. (Joanne Owen, LoveReading4Kids)

Brian Conaghan is a courageous writer, never afraid to really go there. He combines the straight and the blunt of kitchen sink writing with a luminous meditation on the nature of love and life and death. And he has shone a supportive spotlight on the lives of thousands of young carers across the UK. I cried buckets (Jill Murphy, The Bookbag)

Conaghan's lightness of touch and sense of humour shine through in this heartbreaking story, and each of the characters lingers in the imagination until the final page (The Scotsman)

A hard-hitting, heartbreaking tale .One sentence after another knocks the reader out (Independent)

Brian Conaghan has done it again. Uncompromising, gritty, laced with a black humour, this is a novel that you live ... An extraordinary book to be recommended to thoughtful, enquiring readers prepared to take a step into the dark. (Books for Keeps)

Truly outstanding (The School Librarian)