Leaf Arbuthnot

Leaf Arbuthnot is the assistant editor of The Week magazine, and a freelance journalist whose reviews and features have been published in the likes of Vogue, The Sunday Times and The Spectator. Subjects of her interviews include Hilary Mantel, Prince Charles, and Jilly Cooper. She judged the Forward Prize for Poetry in 2020 and the Michael Marks Awards for poetry pamphlets in 2017, and studied modern languages at Cambridge. She lives in London. Looking for Eliza is her first novel.

Current publication:

LOOKING FOR ELIZA - Trapeze / Orion - 14 May 2020

Retired widow Ada finds herself bereaved and unmoored after the sudden death of her husband. In an attempt to reconnect with people she sets up RENT-A-GRANNY, offering her grandmotherly services within the local community. She babysits, teaches people to cook, attends weddings of people with few family members, and even gives one disastrous driving lesson. But after a while she begins to realise that the connections she is forming are superficial and she doesn’t know whether she can just be that peripheral figure who hasn’t truly integrated… until she meets young student Eliza. Eliza makes Ada feel less alone, but Eliza is burdened by her own issues, and when Ada learns what Eliza is hiding, she doesn’t know whether she’ll ever be able to forgive her.

Praise;

‘This is an exquisite story of connection and loss, and how we can change another person's life. Full of heartache, yet joyful and life-affirming.’ - Platinum magazine for LFE

'Arbuthnot conjured a gentle, warm-hearted tale about the importance of social connections across the generations' - the i 

'Leaf Arbuthnot's debut novel is a warm-hearted tale of friendship across the generations' - Sunday Express

'A sensitively written and well observed story... Arbuthnot has a real affinity for the fashion in which women, especially, can simply become invisible to the wider world at all times of life.' - Observer 

'A perfect, uplifting story - the book we all need to read right now' - Closer Magazine

'This lovely, consoling hug is a tonic for our times' - the Spectator 

'MID-PANDEMIC, never has a book about cross-generational friendship and looking out for your neighbours been more timely' - the Daily Mail

‘Clever, warm and funny’ – Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt

‘A heart-rending book about connection and the optimism of the human heart’ - Irish Tatler Magazine 

"Beautifully rendered, thoughtful and original" - Pandora Sykes 

“A love story of intergenerational friendship that is perfect for these divisive times. Leaf’s writing is warm and lyrically funny - she has an eye for details both sublime and ridiculous. Looking for Eliza is an intelligent and big-hearted read with the human condition at its core.” - Harriet Walker, author of New Girl

'Arbuthnot is to be commended for this whole-hearted endorsement of intergenerational living' - The Lady