Description

A JUNE INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH PICK

WINNER OF THE 2025 KATE O’BRIEN AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE

‘A taut generational story set on a South London estate’ Independent, July Book of the Month

‘McDonald is skilled at investing her characters with complicated vitality … This highly promising debut invests the small things that are so easily taken for granted with quietly shattering significance’ Daily Mail

‘A gem of a book about mothers and daughters, about being Black and working class in today’s London. Beautiful writing, taut with emotion, poetry and insight’ Priscilla Morris, Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Black Butterflies

Alone among the lush tangle of plants on his balcony, Earl watches as a broken family reunites in the flat below.

There’s Livia, who has been running for long enough to think her past might never catch up with her. Now she’s forced to catch her breath and face the daughter she left behind. Then Mickey, angry about having a mother who left, a father who died, about the mess she’s made of her own life. With no other place to go, she needs the mother who abandoned her. And Summer, whose new grandmother is weird, and whose mum is always sad or out looking for men to distract her. Left to roam, she finds friends who are willing to give her the attention that Mickey won’t. But are they as kind as she thinks they are?

Burning with hope and desire, No Small Thing evokes the power and pain of mothering, and the damage we can do to the people we should love the most.

Publisher Review

No Small Thing never lapses into sentimentality, earning every bit of its considerable pathos … an accomplished novel that, in its very attention to the ordinary, is among the most unusual and refreshing debuts I have read this year — Kieran Goddard * Guardian * A spare, haunting tale * Observer * McDonald is skilled at investing her characters with complicated vitality … This highly promising debut invests the small things that are so easily taken for granted with quietly shattering significance * Daily Mail * Impressively, McDonald never attempts special pleading or excusing, instead painting a bleak but toughly empathetic picture * Financial Times * Exquisite… This novel acknowledges the possibility of breaking the generational cycles of harm. The narrative hums with longing, addressing the harm that comes from feeling un-loved and unseen. But McDonald offers such hope for change in the face of the powers that be. This beautiful book will stay with you. Hold it tightly. * The Big Issue * From the powerful opening scene full of tragedy, this poignant debut about mothers and daughters really gets under your skin. The story is told over a year on a South London estate and it follows three generations of women who have all lost their way and are counting on each other to get back on track * Good Housekeeping * A crackling fire of a story … No Small Thing is a poetic, emotional and gripping insight into race, parenthood and class in modern Britain. Compelling and unforgettable, this is a marvellous debut * Irish News * An astute debut and an invigorating read — Lucy Popescu * Observer * A taut generational story set on a south London estate — Martin Chilton * The Independent, July Books of the Month * A poetic , emotional and gripping insight into race , parenthood and class in modern Britain. Compelling and unforgettable, this is a marvellous debut. * Herald * A gem of a book about mothers and daughters, about being Black and working class in today’s London. Beautiful writing, taut with emotion, poetry and insight. — Priscilla Morris, Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Black Butterflies A crackling fire of a story … this is a poetic, emotional and gripping insight into parenthood, race and class in modern Britain * Sunday Express * I loved the depiction of the joy and pain of Black working-class life in Britain, in which three generations of women reckon with inequalities and inherited trauma over a year. McDonald drew on her experience of working with children for this novel. — Madeleine Feeny * The Bookseller fiction previews, Editor’s Choice * This follows the story of three generations of women living on a South London estate, set over one year. All are lost and hurting and trying to find their way. I felt their angst and pain through the pages. Gritty and palpable * Prima * A strong debut … McDonald demonstrates skill * Buzz Magazine * A poetic, emotional and gripping insight into parenthood, race and class in modern Britain * Daily Record * A lovely debut, full of truth, tenderness and steely grace: a highly promising first novel — Tom Benn, author of Oxblood Raw and beautiful: the joys and the torments of the mother-daughter bond, cascading down three brilliantly-observed generations — Francis Spufford, author of Light Perpetual An absolute gem of class literature that’s sexy, politically astute, emotionally intelligent, and rivetingly paced in prose that eases between fiery and tender, just like the relationships it so beautifully draws us into — Holly Pester, author of The Lodgers A moving story of maternal love, desire and damage. Orlaine McDonald explores the destructive and redeeming power of this defining relationship when the lives of grandmother, daughter and granddaughter collide over the course of a life changing summer. A bold debut, beautifully written — Marie-Claire Amuah, author of One for Sorrow, Two for Joy Beautifully layered and compelling, No Small Thing is a rich and poetic exploration of love, loss and betrayal across three generations of women – a multifaceted and important story of mothers and daughters told with tenderness and warmth. A bold and powerful debut — Sussie Anie, author of To Fill a Yellow House A taut novel about mothers and daughters, layered with emotions and complex with power and desires, No Small Thing is a raw novel that explores how betrayal and love are linked. — Margaux Vialleron, author of The Yellow Kitchen Tender, tense, and utterly devastating, No Small Thing is a slow and skilful unveiling of motherhood in all its brutal complexities. An unforgettable book — Annie Macmanus, author of The Mess We’re In No Small Thing is sensuous and layered, wrapping me up so completely that closing the book felt like waking up. There is a terrible, compelling urgency throughout the narrative and I finished the book feeling at one devastated and hopeful — Emily Itami, author of Fault Lines