Published 13 June 2024. I can't believe that this is a debut novel! For me, there were Shuggie Bain vibes as I read this - about 14 year Cora living in Muircross in Scotland - a fictional run-down area of Fife - with her mother who maybe confined to a wheelchair but has a very active social life. With language that makes this sound authentic, we follow Cora who is, as she describes herself, fizzy. She acts and speaks without thinking - she's always full of energy to do the wrong sort of stuff. Set in the early 1990s, Cora's 'condition' was something that wasn't really being recognised and certainly not being treated. She was just labelled as different, as trouble. The book follows her from aged 14 to aged 18 - formative years for a teenage girl, but in Cora's case, these were years without a stable hand on her shoulder. Her life was full of trying to find friendship, deal with grief and get through school, all the time longing to get away from Muircross to a better life. This novel is full of characters that make you cringe, make you laugh. But there are also the characters that you are so glad are there in Cora's corner - even if she doesn't want them to be. You follow Cora's coming of age and you feel such emotion for her at times as she tries so hard to be sensible while all the time rushing around and doing daft things. Cora will get under your skin.

The debut author – born in Scotland now living in London – has been part of a number of writer development programmes and winner of various awards including New Writing North’s “A Writing Chance”. And his mentor on that programme, David Peace, has blurbed this book as “the arrival of an urgent and unique new voice, as engaging and as startling as Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Morvern Callar or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and will surely be hailed as one of the great British debut novels”. And while the latter statement may I suspect prove to be a little hyperbolic there is no doubt that this is a well executed debut, with a fresh new voice in the form of the narrator Cora Mowat and with elements which relate to each the novel’s mentioned (starting with a schoolchild narrator – if a little older here, featuring a young Scottish female dealing with death, and having a neuro-diverse narrator here with undiagnosed ADHD).

For me though, and I suspect for the publishers in acquiring the book a more relevant comparison would be to another Booker winner – “Shuggie Bain” (or perhaps even more so the follow up “Young Mungo”) with a narrator growing up with an absent father in post- Thatcher-industry-closure Scotland.

The book takes place across four sections:

Muircross (a fictional notoriously run-down area of Fife) in 1994 when Cora is fourteen and living with her wheelchair bound but still socially active Mum whose latest boyfriend – the one eyed Gunner who makes a living (shop)lifting – moves into their run-dwn council house.

Abbotscraig (a larger slightly better off town – and one where Cora’s Mum had long bene waiting for an adapted council house) in 1996 – where Cor and Gunner are reluctantly (on both sides) thrown together by tragic circumstance ‘You and him–necessity brought you together and necessity never feels right.’ and where Cora grows up rapidly at her local school

Glasgow/Patrick in 1998 – where Cora moves to after walking out on both home (albeit with little choice) and school and gets a in a small supermarket while living in what is effectively a store cupboard above a burn out shop.

And a final scene back in Muircross in 1998 as Cora comes to terms with her past and her condition.

Across its 400 or so pages it features a wide range of vibrant characters who interact with Cora which will make the novel an engrossing read for many readers– although I have to confess that the voice and story here grabbed me far less than the brilliant “Shuggie Bain” perhaps I think due to having a male author writing a schoolgirl’s voice which I felt slightly, and incorrectly, distanced me from the sense of authenticity that is key to this type of novel.

It is an easy option to describe this as a female version of Shuggie Bain - but whilst I would mean that as the highest compliment, it also does Tom Newlands book a disservice. Whilst our lead character is young, living in a run down area in Scotland, and there is brilliant Scottish dialogue, to a point that is where the comparisons should end. Cora is our lead - a teenage girl living with her disabled mum, her mums new dodgy boyfriend, and trying to make sense of school, friendships and the start of romantic relationships. She is also undiagnosed with some kind of neuro-diversity - and all of this means that Cora has a lot going on in her head. But one thing is for sure - she knows she wants a better life than the one she has.
A great cast of supporting characters who both support and derail her. She really has you rooting for her, despite a lot of questionable decisions she makes along the way.
Gritty, raw and powerful. There is an awful lot to love about this novel.

What an emotional punch this delivered!

Only Here, Only Now tells the story of Cara Mowat, growing up in Fife with a disabled mother and a string of men coming in and out her life. Cora, 14 at the start of the book, is determined to make it out of her 'scheme' which is full of pee-the-beds and dafties. If that sentence doesn't make sense to you then this book may not be for you!

However, for me, the language used by Newlands is what makes this novel stand out as authentic and really brings home the life and struggles of Cara.

After tragedy strikes, she is forced to grow up and this book follows her between the ages of 14 and 18, difficult years for us all but more so for a young girl really struggling with her sense of self and identity.

I can't give away too much about how the story progresses as there is a significant incident early on in the novel however this is a definite, must-read for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group, Phoenix for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Outstanding full of dark humour
, sadness with a touch of heartbreak captures time and place to perfection.. Cora is character you will not forget in a hurry. Fans of Shuggy Bain will devour this in one setting. One of the best I've read in a while

This is a novel filled with characters who are human, imperfect and that you will fall for hard. While an honest portrayal of a chaotic life, this novel treads the balance between light and dark very well, and ultimately leaves the reader hopeful. Loved it

Wow excellent, rammed full of Scottish humour. This book will make you laugh and cry, the writing is exceptional. I really enjoyed it and relished the tale. Very visually descriptive, a gem. I honestly can't express how good this is.

A stunning debut. This was a poignant and sometimes tragic read, heartbreaking but not without humour and not without hope. Its an insightful look at real people, real lifes and the difficulties of a tough upbringing in a tough environment.

We meet Cora at fourteen, she suffers with ADHD but back then most would have just said she was a fidget, a disappointment or simply different. Such mislabelling didn't encourage anyone to speak out or ask for help.

She's learned to manage her expectations, her mams taught her how to cook instant noodles, shes friends with Jo who's twenty and has a pair of curling tongs and 17 year old Dennis from the local Co-op has agreed to go with her to the park on Friday evening. Clare Grogan was the ultimate in cool as was spraying yourself liberally with White Musk. If you grew up to the sounds of Altered Images and Deacon Blue this book is like a trip down memory lane.

The characters in this novel are heartbreakingly real as are the estates they call home. Only Here, Only Now really moved me, not because it was sad but because it was full of hope, optimism, friendship and for those that survived, living to fight another day.

1994, Fife. A blistering summer.

Cora Mowat, 14. Stuck on a council estate. Nobody understands her, but then she doesn't understand herself.

Life is changing, and not necessarily for the better...

A breathtaking debut novel. Funny and frustrating, an incredible take on growing up with undiagnosed ADHD. Cora Mowat will have a place in my heart forever.

Sad and raw at times, funny at others and even heartbreaking too this was a wonderful story about Cora's coming of age and was a brilliant depiction of life in the bleak industrial Scottish wasteland where Cora seeks a way out from the horrendous prospect of a life of slog and unremitting toil with little to look forward to.

The author makes the 90s come too life with a well depicted sense of time and place and I thoroughly enjoyed Cora's tale.

Possible spoilers


I feel Cora put me through the wringer a bit in terms of emotion.
I laughed with her, I cried for her, I was incredibly frustrated with her...
A lovely coming of age story, that tackles so many things.
Despite the grief, poverty and addiction, there's genuine warmth and love here.
Super.

Thoroughly entertaining coming of age novel following four years in the life of Cora growing up in post-industrial Scottish towns where there’s nothing to do but drink, meet boys and dream of getting out. With a disabled mum, no dad, and a highly dubious new boyfriend on the scene for her mum, things look like they may be taking a very disturbing turn, but instead we get a sad and funny story in equal measure - grief, poverty, finding and ditching first love, escaping to the city and finding out just how disappointing family and friends can be… The subject matter can be dark at times, but I really did laugh at loud at times. - Cora and her dysfunctional circle of friends are genuinely funny despite everything. Superb sense of place, real emotion and a vivid depiction of the 90s.

This book is a great voice of family dynamics and90's life in Scotland, it felt real and raw overall.