Staunch explores how Eleanor found herself in her late 30’s on a beach in India with her octogenarian grandma and two great aunts, on a quest to find herself like some kind of middle-class cliché. Whether it was her traumatic break-up, her family falling apart, a series of disastrous rebound relationships or a psychotic episode that led her to this point, it’s hard to know. But through the stories of the vivid, worldly older women in her family, Eleanor discovers what it means to be staunch in the face of true adversity.

About the Author

Eleanor Wood is the author of YA novels Becoming Betty and My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend. Staunch is her first non-fiction title.

Eleanor said: “I have tried to write the sort of book that would have helped me when I was in the depths of existential despair. And I want to pay tribute to the staunch women in my family who helped me out of it. I’m delighted that it’s turned out to be a relatable topic, and I am so excited – and a little bit terrified – about it being released into the world.”

Eleanor’s work has been published in various magazines and on websites, most recently Elle magazine. Her erstwhile lo-fifanzine, Shocking Blues and Mean Reds, won praise from the Independent, Lauren Laverne, and Marmalade magazine, among others.

Eleanor Wood lives in Brighton, where she can mostly be found hanging around in cafés and record shops, running on the beach, pretending to be French and/or that it’s the 60s, and writing deep into the night. Her ‘dayjob’ is in academic publishing, and her work has previously been published in magazines such as Elle, Time Out and The Face. She blogs about music (among other things), has a Leonard Cohen tattoo and would like to get a cat, but isn’t sure she can handle the commitment.