Love and marriage children and family death and grief. Life touches everyone the same but living under lockdown It changes us alone.A man abroad wanders the stagandhenstrewn streets of Newcastle as news of the virus at home asks him to question his next move. An exhausted nurse struggles to let go having lost a muchloved patient in isolation. A middleaged son barred from his mothers funeral wakes to an oncoming hangover of regret. Told with Doyles signature warmth wit and extraordinary eye for the richness that underpins the quiet of our lives Life Without Children cuts to the heart of how we are all navigating loss loneliness and the shifting of history underneath our feet.Life Without Children is boldly exhilarating with its revelations of quiet love and the sheer charm of the characters voices Sunday TimesQuietly devastating...shivers with emotion Financial TimesIn the stripping away of everyday anxieties the virus reveals what matters most those qualities that are always at the heart of Doyles fiction love and connection ObserverMoving...and beautiful Daily Mail