The Lightning Tree - Softcover

Woof finds humour and poignancy in the gulf between how things are and how they ought to be. (The Observer)

[A] comical, self-aware novel...Woof is a storyteller and you can tell this from the first few pages. The Lightning Tree doesn't commit to being a comic novel, a narratively adventurous or a wildly philosophical one, but takes the best aspects of each and plaits them into this clever and touching story. (The Times)

Woof's lyrical storytelling moves effectively through time and place, interweaving Ursula and Jerry's futures as well as what came before them ... the result is transcendent. What unfolds is a story not just of young love but of how to cope when it is lost and shattered. (Financial Times)

[An] indubitable talent. (Guardian)

The sheer brilliance of Woof's prose pulls you into the story ... [T]he vigour and humour of The Lightning Tree make it a winner. (Stylist)

An unusual but convincing love story that charts the often-distant lives of her two distinctive and appealing characters, written with wit and a lyrical flourish. (Daily Mail)

A poignant love fable that rings loud with the recognition of truth. (Grazia)

Woof writes with exuberant skill about the mess of metaphysics, dreams and history that can make people strangers to each other, and the inexorable life forces that can bring them back together (Metro)

The Lightning Tree is a more ambitious book than One Day, moving away from the relationship much of the time to focus on themes of class, family and religion. There are undertones of Jeffrey Eugenides'sThe Marriage Plot, which also sees its college-age protagonists wade through issues of love and spirituality while looking for answers. (The Irish Times)

A love story at its heart, it also explores the many strange ways in which our lives branch out and intersect. Even more daringly, it captures those rare moments of transcendence that elude not just words but understanding, yet still have the power to shape a life. As such, Emily Woof could easily have fallen foul of feyness or whimsy, but in fact, as her time-lapse narrative spools out, there is not a page of this sympathetic novel that isn't illuminated by her verve and wit. (The Lady)

Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Emily Woof has written for stage, film and radio. She wrote and directed Meeting Helen for FilmFour, and directed the prize-winning short film Between The Wars. She has also worked as a trapeze artist and actor; her screen credits include Oliver Twist, The Full Monty, Pandaemonium, This Year's Love and Velvet Goldmine. Her first novel The Whole Wide Beauty was published to great acclaim in 2010. She lives in London with her husband and two children.