The Scottish town of Muircross feels bleak and claustrophobic to 14-year-old Cora Mowat. The water is dank and full of garbage, wrappers litter the parks, and the people work hard but cannot get ahead. It is 1994, and Cora and her mother, Margaret, dream of moving to Abbotscraig where they can make a fresh start. As they wait for the government to approve their housing application, they continue to struggle to put food on the table, and they drive each other crazy.

Cora is the center of Tom Newlands’ unforgettable debut novel, ONLY HERE, ONLY NOW. She is a protagonist with heart and grit in a story of challenges both mundane and extraordinary, and of emotional opportunities that have the power to transform.

"ONLY HERE, ONLY NOW is not easy to describe, but it is easy to read.... It is a stellar first outing and a singular coming-of-age story written with depth, honesty, insight, humor and an abiding respect for its characters."

Having never known her father, or really anything about him, Cora has always relied on her mother for care and support. But Margaret, who has been in a wheelchair her whole life, is often lonely and overwhelmed. This leads her to enter into less-than-healthy relationships with men and rely on the proclamations of a phone-in psychic.

Cora is hyper, sometimes unfocused, fidgety, smart and insightful. Today she likely would be diagnosed with ADHD. But in the small towns of mid-’90s Fife, only one adult recognizes her traits and hands her some pamphlets, while most other people are simply annoyed or ignore her. Her closest friend, Fiona, is patient, and her babysitter turned companion, Jo, is critical and sometimes cruel. When Margaret brings a new man home, the already delicate balance in their lives is further upset. And when a shocking tragedy strikes, Cora’s whole world is destroyed.

By the time she is 16, Cora is living with Gunner, the last man Margaret had brought home to live with them. Cora and Gunner are grieving, and their relationship to each other is strained and unclear. They have moved to Abbotscraig, and Cora realizes that the dream to which she and her mother held fast is really just another version of Muircross. But a good friend named Vicki and Vicki’s cousin, Pauline, along with a first boyfriend, help settle Cora in her new home --- for better or for worse. Before long, through stress, anxiety, heartbreak, violence, loss and hope, she has her sights set on Glasgow as the city that will save her.

While the novel belongs to Cora, her relationship with those closest to her drive the drama. Newlands captures the intensity of teenage friendships and romances with their insults, blunders, heartbreaks, betrayals, joys and elations. Cora is different from the kids around her, though it is hard for everyone to pinpoint just how. Newlands makes this difference a fact of Cora’s life but never reduces her to just that. The love that she and her mother have for each other is often poorly expressed between them. But Cora eventually comes to learn more about Margaret and appreciate her for who she was.

It’s Cora’s bond with Gunner, a former small-time crook, that makes this book so fantastic. Like Cora, Gunner is such a compelling character --- nuanced, complicated, richly drawn and often surprising. Newlands does great work in telling their story.

ONLY HERE, ONLY NOW is not easy to describe, but it is easy to read. Newlands’ prose flows so well and is by turns conversational and philosophical. It is a stellar first outing and a singular coming-of-age story written with depth, honesty, insight, humor and an abiding respect for its characters.