About
Charlotte Edwardes is a novelist and award winning journalist.
Charlotte Edwardes is a novelist and award winning journalist.
For further enquiries:
Eleanor Birne at RCW literary agency
eleanor@rcwlitagency.com
Trouble Was is the debut coming-of-age novel by journalist and novelist Charlotte Edwardes, published by Bloomsbury Publishing on 2 July 2026.
Set against the suffocating backdrop of the legendary British heatwave of 1976, the story provides a sharp, child's-eye perspective on domestic neglect, toxic family politics, and resilience.
It is available to purchase through Bloomsbury and Amazon.
The Guardian “The joy here is that of good writing.”
The Times “A transporting piece of 1970s gothic with a viscous sensory pull.”
The Spectator “Similes are almost tangibly good.”
The Irish Times “Edwardes writes the toughness of toxic families with great tenderness.”
The Evening Standard “An uncomfortable, traumatic read, but unputdownable.”
The Daily Mail “Crisply told, shot through with slow-burn menace.”
The Independent The heatwave mind warp is real
Charlotte Edwardes on researching the 1976 heatwave, and why a hot summer is “when dramatic things happen inside and out.
You Magazine The sweltering summer that inspired Trouble Was
Unwashed children, bikes home at dusk with no lights, and a sibling row with an air rifle: Charlotte Edwardes on the feral childhood behind the novel.
The Times My feral seventies childhood
Charlotte Edwardes looks back on growing up with freedom that would be unthinkable today, and what it means for how we parent now.
