Picture Imperfect
€11.98
Dolphin Westward spent her childhood as the supporting character in the story of her beautiful, wild, volatile mother Marigold. Now 33, she’s painfully aware that not much has changed. She lives in a tiny bedsit, works in a tattoo shop by day and collects her illustrated mum from police stations by night. Dol yearns to climb out of the rut she is stuck in, but has no idea where to begin. Could gardener Lee and his daughter Ava be her chance for a wholesome family life? Or maybe a steamy romance with roguish actor Joel is just what she needs. And what about the offer from her sister Star, now a successful doctor, to move to Scotland and live with her young family? As the choices threaten to overwhelm her, will Dol fall into the role of extra in someone else’s story once again – or find the strength to forge a brand new path of her own?
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She's spent her life holding everything - and everyone - together. But she's done being perfect.
Now it's time to be herself.
Dol Westward has always been the dependable one - the steady hand, the peacekeeper, the fixer. Especially when it comes to her unpredictable mother, Marigold. But after years of putting everyone else first, she's starting to wonder what's left for her.
When life begins to fray around the edges, Dol realises she's been chasing an idea of perfection that was never really hers. Old habits, old expectations - they're hard to break. But maybe imperfection is the only place she can finally feel free...
A story about family, identity, and the messy truth of finding yourself - from the beloved author who always writes real life, honestly told.
READERS ARE OBSESSED WITH PICTURE IMPERFECT:
'Jacqueline Wilson is a national treasure! Picture Imperfect is at once beautiful, sad, and uplifting' - Alice Winn
'I devoured this entire book in one sitting . . . it catapulted me out of a reading slump'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'There's something so comforting about reading a Jacqueline Wilson book . . . You can just sink into it' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Picture Imperfect is everything I didn't know I needed: tender, messy and deeply relatable' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'10/10 would recommend to anyone who loved Jacqueline Wilson as a child, and to anyone who's never read her before this is just the perfect novel of 'adult trying to sort their mess of a life out' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'A nostalgic hug from the past' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I obviously hoovered it up. There's something about the way Jacqueline Wilson writes that gets me racing through every page!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'It's real, raw and completely relatable' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I absolutely adored diving back into the world of The Illustrated Mum. . . It brought all the nostalgia. I could not put this down' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Instant Sunday Times bestseller, August 2025
Additional information
| Weight | 430 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 19.7 × 12.9 × 2.7 cm |
| Book_author | Wilson, Jacqueline |
| Publisher | Penguin Books |
| Imprint | Penguin Books |
| Cover | Paperback |
| Pages | 272 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | 1st paperback ed |
| Dewey | 823.92 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
