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Holly Bourne

Biography

Holly Bourne

Holly Bourne is a bestselling and critically acclaimed author. Inspired by her work with young people and her own experiences of everyday sexism, Holly is a passionate mental health advocate and proud feminist.

Holly started her writing career as a news journalist and was was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor and general "agony aunt" for a youth charity --- helping young people with their relationships and mental health. Inspired by what she saw, Holly started writing teen fiction, including the bestselling, award-winning Spinster Club series, which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When Holly turned 30, she wrote her first adult novel, HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?, examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark.

Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women’s rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She has helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent, works with Women’s Aid to spread awareness of abusive relationships, and runs Rethink’s mental health book club.

Holly lives in London, but dreams of the day she has a garden, dog, chickens and a bee hive.

Holly Bourne

Books by Holly Bourne

When We Were Friends
by Holly Bourne - Fiction, Humor

From the day they first meet as teenagers, Fern and Jessica are best friends. Despite their differences, they are there for each other throughout everything, navigating the difficulties of growing up and fitting in. That is, until Jessica crosses a line that Fern can’t forgive. But now, more than 10 years later, Jessica has unexpectedly reappeared in Fern’s life. A lot has changed for them both --- but can their relationship be different now that they are older? Is it possible for either of them to rewrite the roles they've been cast in? Or will their shared history ultimately be doomed to repeat itself again?

Pretending
by Holly Bourne - Fiction, Women's Fiction

April is kind, pretty and relatively normal --- yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that men aren’t looking for real women --- they’re looking for Gretel. Gretel is perfect --- beautiful but low-maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not too easy. When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun --- especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control. But as she and Joshua grow closer, and the pressure of keeping her painful past a secret begins to build, how long will she be able to keep on pretending?