Title: Diary of a Broken Heart
Author Name: Karen Campbell
Publication Date & Length: March 31, 2015 – 556 pgs
“The Diary of a Broken Heart” is a year in the life of thirty-eight year old lesbian, Vivian Westwood. Viv is an over-weight night-shift Tesco worker, who likes to eat, watch ‘Jeremy Kyle’ and lament the state of her love life.
The diary introduces Viv and her friends: Trace at work with the topsy-turvy love life; best friend, Lor, that Viv is hopelessly in love with; and her pen-pal Flash (Morag Gordon) who obsesses over Kate Bush.
But this is more than just a diary. This is an insight into the mind of an ordinary woman, who gets through her ordinary days in an ordinary way until she is diagnosed with cervical cancer. This diary will bring her self-deprecating humour to the fore as she fights this ghastly disease and begins to see her life in a new way, finally seeing the truths from her past and making decisions for her future happiness.
Scottish writer Karen Campbell is a graduate of Glasgow University’s prestigious Creative Writing Masters, and author of The Twilight Time.
A former police officer, Karen can legitimately claim to have worked the streets of Glasgow, and her debut novel, described as ‘gritty as hell, shot through with black humour’, weaves personal insights and experiences to take a look at life behind the uniform – and the choices women make in life.
