Talking at Night: A Novel

Talking at Night, published in 2023, is author Claire Daverley’s debut novel. Daverley has been writing since she was six years old. After graduating with a Fine Arts Degree from Oxford University, she began writing fiction in her spare time, on the train and late at night while working in publishing. Talking at Night was selected for the Fearne Cotton Happy Place Book Club, shortlisted for the Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards 2023, long listed for the Waterstones Debut of the Year 2023, and shortlisted for the Nota Bene Prize 2024. Daverley is from Hertfordshire and resides in Scotland, where she is working on her second novel.

This guide refers to the 2023 Viking eBook edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide reference body image struggles, anti-gay bias, suicide, and addiction to alcohol.

Plot Summary

Will White meets Rosie Winters during their last year of high school when he begins tutoring Rosie’s twin brother Josh in math. Will, the archetypical, popular, high school rule breaker talks with Rosie one night at a bonfire and shares that his mom abandoned him and his sister Amber, leaving Gran as their caregiver.