It feels far too long since lovely Emma Cooper has appeared on Linda’s Book Bag. The first time was when I shared an extract from Emma’s No Wonder in a post you can read here. Earlier this year I reviewed Emma’s fabulous The First Time I Saw You. My review is here, but The First Time I Saw You will be making another appearance at the end of December as it is one of my books of the year.

Today, I’m thrilled to stay in with Emma to hear all about her latest book. I would like to thank Alara Delfosse at Headline for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for If I Could Say Goodbye.

Staying in with Emma Cooper

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Emma. Thank you so much for agreeing to stay in with me. 

Hello Linda, wow! I love your book cases!

Thanks! Though I’m rapidly running out of space… Tell me, (as if I didn’t know!) which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I have brought along my new Women’s Fiction novel If I Could Say Goodbye which I’m so excited to see out in the world … I can’t believe it’s my third book!

Congratulations Emma and happy publication day for last Thursday! So , what can we expect from an evening in with If I Could Say Goodbye?

It’s a story about Jennifer Jones who is married to a wonderful man called Ed, they have two young children and she is very happy with her life, very settled. But at the beginning of the story, Jen’s sister Kerry is tragically killed in a road accident by pushing Jen out of the way and so what follows is the story of how Jen deals firstly with her grief, her own mortality and then the guilt of why she is still and alive when her sister isn’t.

That sounds quite emotional. Tell me more.

Now I know this sounds like a very sad tale but as with my other books there are a lot of laughs along the way as Jen tries to make the most out of her life by having more adventurous sex with her husband and taking up roller-booting! My books may break your heart but I always, always try to put it back together by the end.

Hmm. I’m not sure I believe you Emma. You shredded my heart when I read The First Time I Saw You!

What else have you brought along and why?

Well, just stay there for a moment, Linda … *pops out to the car and returns with two-meter-tall thank you card* Can you just give me a hand fitting it this through your door? Thank you, there we go!

Crikey, that’s enormous. What are you doing with it here?

I have brought along a thank you card filled with messages from the hundreds and hundreds of authors who you’ve helped and supported over the past few years.  What we all love so much is how you help not just the well established authors with big publishing houses but also new writers as I was myself when you first supported me. Thank you for everything.

Oh my goodness Emma. You’ve brought a tear to my eye. It’s my pleasure and I’m thrilled to think I might have helped occasionally along the way. You’re very kind.

I’ve also brought with me The Best of Aretha Franklin because Jen’s sister Kerry loved her, and a homemade white chocolate cheesecake to go with it.

This is one of my favourite recipes and it plays a part in a heart-breaking scene where Jen is trying her best to carry on as if everything is fine, but we can see through Ed’s eyes that Jen is really struggling.

What a perfect combination Emma. I love Aretha Franklin’s music and cheesecake is such a treat. Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat all about If I Could Say Goodbye. I can’t wait to read it but I know I’ll need to stock up with tissues first!

Thank you for having me over Linda, it’s been wonderful to be able to say thank you in person x

It’s been lovely having you here Emma. You serve up some cheesecake and I’ll provide the details about If I Could Say Goodbye:

If I Could Say Goodbye

Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Cecelia Ahern, If I Could Say Goodbye is sure to ‘break your heart but put it back together again’ (Katie Fforde)

Jennifer Jones’ life began when her little sister, Kerry, was born. So when her sister dies in a tragic accident, nothing seems to make sense any more.

Despite the support of her husband, Ed, and their wonderful children, Jen can’t comprehend why she is still here, while bright, spirited Kerry is not.

When Jen starts to lose herself in her memories of her sister, she doesn’t realise that the closer she feels to Kerry, the further she gets from her family.

Jen was never able to say goodbye to her sister. But what if she could?

Would you risk everything if you had the chance to say goodbye?

Published by Headline on 17th September 2020, If I Could Say Goodbye is available for purchase through the links here.

About Emma Cooper

Emma Cooper is a former teaching assistant, who lives in Shropshire with her partner and four children. She spends her spare time writing novels, drinking wine and watching box-sets with her partner of twenty-four years, who still makes her smile every day. Emma has always wanted to be a writer – ever since childhood, she’s been inventing characters (her favourite being her imaginary friend ‘Boot’) and is thrilled that she now gets to use this imagination to bring to life all of her creations.

For more information. follow Emma on Twitter @ItsEmmacooper and on Facebook. You can also visit her website.

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