The Honesty Box
The warm and hopeful memoir about a marriage in freefall, making jam and the quiet rituals of rural life
Published on 29. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-5266-7300-8 (ISBN)
Description
'This gorgeous memoir had me in all my feelings. It's the raw, funny, moving story of a marriage in crisis. Highly recommend' Jennie Godfrey
A funny, heartfelt, uplifting quest for unlocking happiness in tough times during life's big transitions - from marriage to motherhood, and from mental health to mindfulness.
"On National Divorce Day, my husband Steve and I decide to break up. After years of depression and mood swings (him) and hope and defeat (me) enough is, quite frankly, enough.
Until a chance remark triggers a chain of events leading to Steve's later-in-life diagnosis of ADHD and autism. What follows is a year of discovery, denial, medication and salvation as we, our teenagers and even our beloved Golden Retriever, Margot, adjust to the ups and downs of this new reality.
I guess you could call it a love story too."
One wife and mother, one garden, and one year of discovering how honesty, hope and home-grown kindness can change everything.
A funny, heartfelt, uplifting quest for unlocking happiness in tough times during life's big transitions - from marriage to motherhood, and from mental health to mindfulness.
"On National Divorce Day, my husband Steve and I decide to break up. After years of depression and mood swings (him) and hope and defeat (me) enough is, quite frankly, enough.
Until a chance remark triggers a chain of events leading to Steve's later-in-life diagnosis of ADHD and autism. What follows is a year of discovery, denial, medication and salvation as we, our teenagers and even our beloved Golden Retriever, Margot, adjust to the ups and downs of this new reality.
I guess you could call it a love story too."
One wife and mother, one garden, and one year of discovering how honesty, hope and home-grown kindness can change everything.
Reviews / Votes
An honest look at navigating life, marriage, family and neurodiversity * Anna Maxwell Martin * Heart-breaking and heart-warming, but the ultimate message is one of hope: never give up on the one you love * Veronica Henry * Touching, topical and brilliantly woven together, this love story of despair, food and redemption is utterly charming. * Dame Joanna Lumley * Lucy's extraordinary, funny, uplifting and deeply touching book is as important as it is brilliantly written. Despite its huge themes - love, difference, discovery, life - the pages turn as easily as a holiday read. * Mark Diacono * Entertaining, enlightening, shocking and soothing. The joy of gorgeous nature writing mixed with the guilty pleasure of enjoying intimate access to the ups and downs of someone else's private life. I learnt a great deal about neurodivergence and now want to set up an honesty box. * Poppy Okotcha * Beautifully written, by someone who observes nature in all its glorious daily unfolding. -- Dorset Magazine A beautiful and much needed book about what it is like to be in a relationship with someone who is neurodivergent, and the challenges it can bring! Lucy's story highlights just how life changing a diagnosis can be, and how it can truly save relationships. * Rich and Rox Pink, @adhd_love_ *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
216 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5266-7300-8 (9781526673008)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€9.49
Available for download
E-Book
02/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Lucy Brazier is a ghostwriter and author. She began her career at the BBC before becoming a talent agent at PFD (now United Agents) representing actors and presenters. After twenty years, she and her young family left London and moved to Dorset where she worked with the broadcaster, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, before becoming a full time ghostwriter in 2017. She has worked on many writing projects and written nine books on behalf of high-profile people, across a range of subjects including lifestyle, food, interiors, education, money and memoir. Her first book in her own name was Christmas at River Cottage and she regularly contributes to The Simple Things magazine. Her second book, The Honesty Box, is a non-fiction narrative capturing a year in her life through her home, village, husband's ASD diagnosis and honesty box. She swims in the sea most mornings, but doesn't like to go on about it...