Sibling spat

Adult fiction novel The Accidental Favorite by Fran Littlewood has hit the shelves.

The story follows parents Vivienne and Patrick Fisher who have done an excellent job raising their daughters Alex, Nancy and Eva, who grew up to be women with stable and impressive careers, caring partners and sweet children.

However, during a weeklong celebration of Vivienne’s 70th birthday in the English countryside, a freak accident causes Patrick to inadvertently reveal that he has a favourite daughter.

This causes decades-old, unresolved sibling rivalries to unmask, and reopens still tender wounds.

Prior to starting her career as an author, Fran worked as a business journalist, but eventually realised that it was not the right path for her, and the new publication marks her second novel since The Amazing Grace Adams (2023).

“When I tell you that I once had to phone my mum from my desk at a pretty prestigious publication to ask her how to figure out a percentage sum, you’ll understand that, emphatically, fiction writing suits me better,” Fran said in an interview.

“I had to get my creative kicks crafting colourful intros to features about, say, pensions regulations for small businesses.

“I paused journalism when my three kids were small, and realised that writing fiction was all I wanted to do. I didn’t want to regret never having tried — even if I didn’t manage to get published, I could live with that. So, I signed up for a Creative Writing MA. There wasn’t really a plan B, so very much ‘phew!’ that things turned out the way they have so far,” she added.