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The Driving Seat

what is your freedom worth to you...?

by Abigail Abbas

£9.99

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ISBN: 9781846976926
Published: 02 Apr 2026
Format: Paperback
Extent: 288
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
Imprint: Polygon
Categories:
Fiction
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Reviews

About the Book

Emma Propeller is trying to swerve the wreckage of her marriage.

When her husband returns from rehab with a new lover, Emma bolts with her baby on a midnight train to a castle in the Scottish Highlands. A job as a live-in driver for a glamorous marchioness promises safety and the chance to reinvent herself. Everything seems to have fallen into place.

But the castle is no sanctuary. Dark secrets stalk its halls, the marchioness’s behaviour spirals into the unhinged and someone, Emma suspects, is following her. She hasn’t steered herself out of danger – she’s driven straight into it.

'I completely adored this sad, quirky and funny caper . . . Full of warmth, sympathy and hard-won wisdom, this is definitely my read of the week' – Daily Mail

'An intriguing debut . . . a beguiling mash-up of domestic absurdity and psychological thriller as Emma takes the reader into her confidence with her Fleabag-esque confessional narration. We’re her co-conspirators and completely on her side, especially when her new life starts to fall apart' – The Scotsman

'This darkly delicious debut, peppered with humour, explores the trials of motherhood, and the courage it takes to steer a new course in life' – Sunday Post


The Author

Abigail Abbas

After graduating with a first in English, Abigail Abbas began her career in financial PR. She left the City to raise her children and worked as an illustrator, later embarking on an MA in Illustration at Camberwell College of Art.

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