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Natasha Bell - author

@bytashbell

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Author, creative writing teacher & new parent. HIS PERFECT WIFE and THIS NOWHERE PLACE available now, MAYBE THE WORLD WILL END... coming soon!

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🧡✨ Last week I spent a cozy autumn evening 🍂 at Burley Fisher Books celebrating the launch of Natasha Bell’s new novel Maybe The World Will End So We Won’t Have To. It was lovely to catch up with some of my old Jericho Writers Ultimate Novel Writing Course alum. Can’t wait to read! Congratulations Natasha! ✨🧡

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A joyful evening celebrating the launch of Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To @bytashbell at the indie paradise @burleyfisher 🙌

Officially out in the world! 🖼️

#bookstagram #bookig #bookshop #indiepublishing

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Author Harry is struggling to figure out what comes next. Divorced and living with her new partner in a London house-share, she knows she should be writing – after all, she has a book due out any day now and her agent urgently wants to know what she is working on next. So she creates a version of herself called Natalie, intending her to be a bolder, more confident version of Harry, and embarks on recreating moments from her own life on the page, exploring different outcomes. But when a health scare threatens the life she has carefully rebuilt, the line between fiction and reality begins to blur.

One of the things I loved most about this novel is how it explores what the act of writing means to the writer. At first Harry uses her own life as inspiration because it seems such an obvious source of content, and other authors she admires have done the same. But what starts out as a means to process events going on around her – and a way to give some of the thoughts she can’t say out loud space to breathe – soon spirals into attempts to control real life events through her narrative. As someone who has always seen art as therapy, the idea it can become so toxic gave me much pause for thought. It also raises questions around the ethics of capturing on paper the lives of those around us. Do we have any kind of ownership over our own experiences? Add to this poignant explorations of identity, friendship and mortality – and the fact this is just damn good writing – and Maybe The World Will End So We Won’t Have To is one of those reads I am longing to discuss with others. For this reason alone, you should buy it so we can talk.

The multitudinous layers of meaning have my brain ticking over at high speed. Is there any such thing as reality? Does art imitate life or life imitate art? If anyone needs me I will be over here pondering life’s bigger questions. This is a fascinating read.

#bookreview #bookblogger #booksworthreading #autofiction #bookstagram

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It was a lovely surprise to have Natasha Bell stop by today to sign copies of her fantastic new work of autofiction, Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To.

The book is an exquisite Hall of Mirrors: writers writing themselves into fiction and fiction writing itself into life. It is completely unique and totally captivating.

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Author Harry is divorced, depressed, out of contract and unsure what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She invents a character Natalie – a braver, bolder version of herself – whom she begins channelling in small ways in her own life.

A metafictional tour de force, Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To is a finely crafted literary autofiction about identity, sexuality and the work that goes into writing a novel. Brilliantly queer and feminist, and by turns funny and dark, it leaves us questioning the practice and ethics of being a writer.

Thank you to @bytashbell for coming by!

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Everyone from Jericho Writers is sending huge congratulations to Natasha Bell, whose novel Maybe The World Will End So We Don't Have To has just been published earlier this week.

Natasha works with us as an editor, mentor and tutor on our Ultimate Novel Writing Programme. Want to learn more or join the next intake of the course with other acclaimed authors as your tutors? Head to our website for further information.

#publishedauthors #newbook #writingcourse

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A great ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review from @kazzy25 to close out the #blogtour for @bytashbell’s Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To 🙌

‘You really get inside her head with how she processes each new hurdle she faces, life and love with her girlfriend, trying different therapies to work through the past and make sense of the present, and there’s humour and sadness in equal measures for you to experience with her… A really thought provoking read!‘

https://bookkaz4.wordpress.com

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𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘

Author Harry is flailing. She’s depressed, her divorce is about to be finalised, she’s out of contract, doesn’t know what to write next and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Then she gets an idea: what if she wrote about her life but made it fictional. So, she invents Natalie - a braver and bolder version of herself - and begins to write her story.

This book was like nothing I’ve ever read before. Original, moving, thought-provoking and compelling, Natasa Bell has crafted a truly memorable story. A story about identity, sexuality, relationships, mental health and what it takes to write a novel, Natasha explores some dark and difficult topics such as domestic abuse, grooming murder and homophobia that she writes with honesty, wit and compassion.

Like most bibliophiles, I’m a sucker for a book about books, and writing, books, fiction and publishing are a big part of this story. Like the author, her characters Harry and Natalie are writers, and there is a lot of discussion about how hard it is to write a book. We see Harry struggle with writer's block, pour out her heart onto the page, wrestle with self-doubt and celebrate wonderful things. Lots of female authors are name-dropped and talked about, which made my TBR even longer than it already is. So be prepared!

The characters are compelling and I particularly bonded with Harry. I didn’t always like her or agree with her actions, but I was rooting for her and invested in her life. Because of the unusual metafiction style, it was a little confusing at first and took me a bit of time to get into. But once I did I was glued to the pages and eager to know what lay in store for Harry and Natalie. And what lay in store was quite the emotional rollercoaster that I was not prepared for. And that ending! How could you leave it there! I was not ready for that and don’t think I’ll get over it for quite some time.

Rating: ✮✮✮.5

💬 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?

[ᴀᴅ/ᴘ

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☕📚𝑪𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈📚☕

Happy Monday, Bibliophiles ☺️

I'm still recovering from a busy weekend but am excited to start the week with 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰 𝘞𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘛𝘰 ready for my blog tour stop in a few days time. And of course I'm starting the day with coffee and this delicious danish pastry.

💬 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈?

[ᴀᴅ/ᴘʀ]

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MAYBE THE WORLD WILL END SO WE WON’T HAVE TO by Natasha Bell
Layered and subtle, yet uplifting and truthful at the same time, Bell’s novel sees Harry, a novelist out of contract and out of balance with herself, inventing a literary alter ego, Natalie, whose fictional bravery and boldness profoundly changes Harry’s life. An original tale that speaks of many things without censure or apology: queer identity and love, reinvention and renewal, confidence and self-love. An absolute must read.

No 1 of our September TBR recommendations: links below

https://tinyurl.com/September2026TBR
https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/super-september-recommended-new-releases-from-indie-presses-republic-of-words

Gritty & Unapologetically Queer
* Chelsea Girls by Eileen Myles
* 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

Ethics, Deception and identity Crises
* The Grand Scheme of Things by Warona Jay
* Cleaner by Jess Shannon

Struggling Writers in Metafiction
* A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
* A Writer's Diary by Toby Litt
* The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
* The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

Metafiction & Literary Satire
* Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
* Erasure by Percival Everett

Intimate Character Studies & Complex Relationships
* Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
* Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

#MaytheWorldWillEndSoWewontHaveto #NatashaBell #Bookstagram #LiteraryFiction #RenardPress

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Brilliant #bookpost to end the week! 🙌

Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To @bytashbell – out 1st September

🧡💙

Reviews still flooding in – featuring blissful adjectives like…

‘Playful, surprising and moving.’
Amie Corry

‘Fearlessly honest, emotionally acute and very funny.’
Jessica Moor, author of Hold Back the Night

‘The pages turn themselves…’
Lara Haworth, author of Monumenta

‘A perfect balance of raucously fun and archly disturbing.’
Kimberly Campanello, author of Use the Words You Have

‘A mesmerising, fiercely intelligent book. I loved it.’
Celia Silvani, author of Just Between Mothers

‘A fall into the metafictional abyss has never been so funny, or so absurdly inventive, or so pointed about the alternating egotisms and humiliations of the writing life.’
Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

‘Interesting, provocative and darkly funny at times!’
Rebecca Murphy, author of Blood and Water

‘A unique and absorbing meditation on the difference, if any, between life and art. I loved it.’
Carole Hailey, author of The Silence Project

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As we tick down towards publication, delighted to announce the week-long #blogtour for Maybe the World Will End So We Won’t Have To @bytashbell, with thoughts on their way from some of #bookstagram’s favourite reviewers… 🙌

24th August @kaggsy59
25th August @lbrbsblogs
26th August @emmas.biblio.treasures
27th August @the_book_girl85
28th August @bobsandbooks
31st August @kazzy25
1st September launch! 🚀

#beautifulbooks #autofiction #literaryfiction

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