An exquisite book. It is so well-written with characters that completely come to life. Tender and poignant - I absolutely loved it . My favourite read of 2026. I can't recommend this book enough.

What a lovely book. I’ve read all Joanna Cannon’s books and they all give me the feels. Tender, warm, sentimental and just full of good people and thoughtful storylines. Flicking between the past and present was seamless, well written and thoroughly enjoyable. Read in two sittings.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collin’s/Harper Fiction for my advanced copy. Highly recommend.

Joanna Cannon’s writing is extraordinary - she finds beauty in the ordinary, she makes heroes of everyday folk, her eye is full of humanity and she captures nostalgia in such a deeply affecting way.
With its wonderfully comforting concept that our loved ones walk with us when they’ve died, An Unlikely Visitor is a powerful reminder that acceptance is within our grasp because it’s within ourselves.

Joanna Cannon does it again. I loved this book. I laughed and cried and could not put the book down.
Margaret and Derek's daughter Jeanie has gone missing and they don't know how they will get through the days that follow. There is a delicious little twist in the story and in my opinion it's a must read. Joanna Cannon describes her characters so evocatively and beautifully.

Forty years ago, Margaret and Derek’s daughter disappeared. Ninety-four days ago Derek died. The latter natural, the former a mystery, still unsolved. Left on her own, Margaret, now seventy-five, is naturally bereft, not just because Derek has gone, but because her lifelong fixation about the whereabouts of her daughter, Jeanie; alive, dead, kidnapped, murdered? The busy life she has created for herself over the years, to mask this constant concern, needed Derek’s support. She is sinking! And then the eponymous visitor appears and suddenly she is galvanised into action. The answer to Jeanie's disappearance is out there. Someone knows, and when she can piece together who that someone is she will finally answer the question.
Life and Death, and what happens when the former becomes the latter, are deep questions. This story, while being a murder-mystery, beautifully explores these issues; metaphysically rather than empirically. It’s an unconventional, but evocative, book. The early chapters are Margaret’s stream of consciousness on these matters, precipitated by the aftermath of Derek’s death. Some might find it a bit too philosophical, and rather aphoristic, but the pace picks up when the visitor appears and supplies Margaret with new sources of evidence. I did solve the mystery quite early on, but that isn’t really what carries the reader through to the dénouement. That is down to the skilful writing and the emotion that it unleashes.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

An Unlikely Visitor, by Joanne Cannon is an outstanding read, a story that is as profound as it is nuanced—a “so very human” exploration of how the end of one’s story might actually be a hidden beginning.

Margaret is a character who immediately breaks your heart and then slowly starts to mend it. Following the death of her beloved husband, Derek, she feels as though her “time is up.” The house is too quiet, and the air is heavy with the double grief of losing a partner and the decades-old mystery of her daughter Jeanie’s disappearance.

The story is beautifully written and illustrates the “lovely life” Margaret and Derek built together, making the current impossibility of her solitary existence feel incredibly grounded and real. It is a “sombre mood,” yes, but it’s written with such compassion that you never feel overwhelmed by the sadness.

Everything changes when Margaret returns home to find an unlikely visitor. This visitor acts as the catalyst for a journey Margaret never thought she would take. Together, they begin to knock on the doors of the past to uncover the truth about Jeanie.

What makes this book truly special is how it handles the “whimsical twist.” It’s never overstated or jarring; instead, it lightens the atmosphere and provides a sense of hope that feels earned. It’s a reminder that if you are brave enough to keep looking, you might just find a different ending to your story.

This is a “beautifully written story of grief, love, and compassion.” It’s a book that invites you to slow down and appreciate the tiny intersections of life that turn out to be the huge ones. It’s rare to find a story that deals with such heavy themes while remaining so uplifting, but Joanne Cannon has achieved exactly that.

“Margaret thought her time was up, but she discovered that life isn’t a straight line, it’s a series of doors, and sometimes you just need the right visitor to help you knock.”

This book will leave you feeling both tearful and inspired, emotional storytelling that reminds us that no matter how late the hour, there is always room for a little more love and a lot more truth. Fabulous read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

" When you love someone, you never leave them. heaven, or whatever you want to call it, is right here, with the people your care about most. And maybe we can accept that, we'll be able to to live with a more peaceful mind."

" Our journeys make us who we are," he said. "They tell the real story"

Over the last decade Joanna Cannon has written some superb novels-The Trouble with Goats and Sheep has been a particular favourite. Now we have the An Unlikely Visitor and it's a truly beautiful and moving read.

Margaret is alone and unhappy- feeling isolated from life. Her husband Derek died recently and her daughter Jeanie disappeared four decades earlier leaving a hole in her existence. Despite the tragedy she and Derek had made the best of life and had been happy.

But life takes a turn when a visitor arrives- someone she'd never have imagined and together they begin to piece together the pieces as to what happened in the past.

This is a story that is told with som much heart and compassion that you cannot but be moved. The creation of Margaret is a triumph and she struggles through the years to make the best of life despite horrendous heartache.

Joanna Cannon's ability to make the everyday - the ordinary- become extraordinary is what makes this book so special. Every moment is precious. We enter the lives of different friends and neighbours of Margaret and see how she navigates the vanishing of her daughter and then widowhood as she interacts with them trying to salvage a life worth living. There are so many sentences that are true pearls of wisdom and observations of life.

This is part mystery story but more importantly an exploration of the human condition; compassion; love ; survival and opening up your mind to the miraculous.

Joanna Cannon has written a truly wonderful novel- it grabbed me from just a few pages in as I travelled with Margaret and every page resonated in different ways through the dissection of everyday life past and present especially as you get older.

If you are a fan of Rachel Joyce then Joanna Cannon's novels are a perfect read.

One of the most imaginative, poignant and emotionally moving reads of 2026

Thank you to Borough Press publications and Netgalley for there advance copy.

Quotes:

"There aren't many big lives out there, Margaret. The world just likes you to think there are, so you don't give up."

" We only have a limited amount of energ, but most of it we fritter away on convincing other people how well we're doing."

"It's amazing how much space questions can take up, isn't it?"

Another brilliant book from Joanna Cannon. Margaret is struggling after the death of her husband and has never got over the disappearance of their daughter, Jeanie. An unlikely visitor arrives and helps her solve the mystery. An Unlikely Visitor is told entirely from the point of view of Margaret, a beautifully written character with some wonderfully funny observations. Although this a sad story, it is told with a lot of humour and is ultimately uplifting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the review access.

There is a beautiful light touch to this book given that it is primarily about death, grief and loss. And although there are deeply despairing moments carried over too many years, there is humour, incredible forgiveness and a wonderful, warming depiction of hope and love after death.

I would happily read this beautiful novel over again. Joanna Cannon muses on life through the eyes of a newly widowed Margaret Ford.. Margaret is not only dealing with the death of her beloved husband, Derek, but she is dealing with the fact that the only other person who understood her grief at the loss of her daughter has now gone too.

Margaret’s grief is raw. She is lost, alone, bereft and is ready to give up. She believes that life has nothing to offer her any more and doesn’t see a purpose in continuing - that is until she receives a visit from an ‘unlikely visitor’ who gives her a reason for living and helps her to step into the world outside again.

Death is a huge subject to make sense of, but Joanna Cannon does it brilliantly and with compassion and humour. She is a writer who seems to delve into the human psyche. Her phrases and words will have you nodding your head in agreement as if she has read your mind at some point. This beautiful book demonstrates the importance of human connection and friendship. Grief and sadness sit comfortably with humour. There are moments when I just laughed out loud and moments of enormous sadness.

This is a wonderful book, and it will stay with me for a very long time.

A beautifully written story of grief, love and compassion with a rather whimsical twist which lightened a somewhat sombre mood. Joanna Cannon really knows how to get into the minds of her characters and this makes for a thoroughly engaging read. Highly recommended.

This is just a gorgeous book! Compassionate, emotional, tragic, sad, all rolled into a wonderful story, beautifully told. Margaret and Derek’s daughter disappeared many years go, when she was just eleven years old. No trace of her has ever been found but Margaret and Derek managed to carry on, and to build.a contented life together. Then Derek passed away and Margaret was floundering on her own, until the appearance of an unexpected visitor. Together, they determined to solve the mystery of Jeanie’s disappearance. It’s difficult to say more without giving spoilers but this is.a very special book that will have the reader crying, laughing, angry, and feeling every other possible emotion as it is so well written, characterised and plotted.

I've never read any of Cannon's er.....canon, but I was tempted by a 5 star review. It's an extraordinary book. The way she deals with grief is haunting. I found myself reaching for a hanky.
It's difficult to describe the plot without major spoilers. Suffice to say Margaret, who has recently been widowed, has an unexpected visitor and together they try to solve the mystery of what happened to Margaret's daughter Jeanie, over 40 years ago.
There are some hefty topics but Cannon's light touch removes the incredulity and instead the book has a sprinkling of something like magic.

This book is a real treasure - a definite five star read for me! I loved it from the first page. Margaret is such a character and I found myself totally involved in her life as a widow who has also sadly lost her 11 year old daughter. It is an emotional but heartwarming story, and I don’t want to give anything away but the visitor is a welcome one and the book filled me with hope. It’s a really great read, perfectly paced and such a page turner. I highly recommend spending time with Margaret, her family and her neighbours. A stunning and memorable read. I didn’t want it to end and I’m already looking forward to reading it again.

It’s tough for Margaret these days since Derek died and the couple never get over the disappearance of their daughter Jeanie many years ago. Despite their profound loss, they do build a nice life together but these days she feels the walls are closing in as it’s just so hard. Then an unlikely visitor appears and perhaps for the first time in many, many years she can find some answers about what really happens to Jeanie.

Fellow book lovers will know exactly what I mean when I say this has been the most wonderful reading experience encompassing all the emotions. Ever since her debut novel ‘The Trouble with Goats and Sheep’, I have loved Joanna Cannon‘s books and I’m certain this will be another best seller. It’s a beautiful book which is beautifully written with genuine feeling, empathy, sensitivity and understanding of Margaret and her life. I can honestly say I truly love being in Margaret’s company for the hours it takes to read this. The author has quite simply taken an ordinary, everyday life and made it extraordinary in every possible way. It’s wonderfully written with some witty and apt turns of phrase, summing situations up to perfection. The characterisation is exemplary.

Clearly, the novel has grief at its core but it’s grief wrapped up in a mystery which evolves naturally through the writing. It’s also sprinkled with a lot of magic and some marvellously surreal moments which the author 100% makes me buy into. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, the loss of Jeanie and the living with the not knowing, the loss of lovely Derek but it’s also heartwarming and life affirming. I defy anyone not to have a tear in their eye at the end. It’s a truly poignant story written with compassion and huge imagination. Absolutely fabulous.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction/The Borough Press for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

I devoured this book. I love Joanna Cannon's writing. It is always offering a different twist that is wonderful.

I found this story a lovely read, it had me thinking about life and many aspects of it.

I enjoyed every page.

I absolutely loved this book! Margaret is struggling after losing her beloved husband Derek. Years ago, their beloved 11 year old daughter Jeanie vanished without trace, and they worked hard to rebuild their lives. Then one day Margaret has a completely unexpected and unbelievable visitor. Together they set out to find out what happened to Jeanie. I can't say anymore without spoiling the story, but it just blew me away!! Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This is the emotional and insightful story of Margaret facing up to bereavement, and along the way, a journey to discover the unsolved disappearance of her daughter who has been missing for 40 years. It is told with compassion but with a light touch and there are smiles amongst the tears, but always there remains Margaret’s compulsion and determination to solve the mystery and find the answers that have hitherto baffled everyone including the police – with her unlikely visitor by her side.

It is a beautifully written book with characters that come to life on the page and has a mystery with a satisfying ending that keeps the pages turning. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as I have every one of Joanna Cannon’s books that I have read.

Many thanks to Joanna Cannon, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

Having loved Joanna Cannon's previous books I was delighted to receive an ARC of her latest offering from NetGalley and I certainly wasn't disappointed.
The book centres around Margaret who has recently lost her husband Derek. Margaret and Derek had spend over 40 years united in grief after their daughter disappeared as a child never to be found. In spite of the challenges they had supported each other to get on with life but after Derek died Margaret felt lost and desperate. Then an 'unlikely visitor' turned up and with their help and engagement with her community she manages to navigate her way through grief and puts together missing pieces of a jigsaw she and Derek had previously not been able to solve.
Sensitive, poignant, heart-warming and tragic in equal measure. A beautifully written book that has a bit of everything!

I really enjoyed this novel - a 5 star read!

Margaret is struggling after the death of her husband, Derek, of cancer. She has locked herself away, no longer interacting with friends, neighbours or the local community. Her daughter, Jeanie, disappeared at age 11 and was never found. Margaret and Derek were forced to make a new life for themselves but never came to terms with her absence.

An unexpected visitor arrives at her home and together they decide to find out what really happened to Jeanie.

A story of grief, loss and compassion. Beautifully written and emotional. It stayed with me long after I had completed it.

I have read all of Joanna Cannon's books and this one is her usual brilliant mix of wonderful storytelling, filled with clever little observations of what is it that makes us human.
This story is filled with nostalgia for the simpler times of 40 years ago and also the utter devastation that Margaret and Derek experienced. Such beautiful, sensitive writing and an ending to bring a tear to your eye.

Joanna Cannon is a delight. Her novels are always witty, funny and full of heart but not afraid to step into a darker topic. This was as considered and brilliant as ever.