If you had the power to change the past…where would you start?
Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes (museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend, Will) and strongly dislikes what she doesn’t (mess, change, her boss drinking out of her mug). Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order…until now.
– She’s just been dumped.
– She’s just been fired.
– Her local café has run out of banana muffins.
Then, something truly unexpected happens: Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past. One small rewind at a time, Cassie attempts to fix the life she accidentally obliterated, but soon she’ll discover she’s trying to fix all the wrong things.
Don't just take our word for it...
“Smale combines well-developed characters with laugh-out-loud humor as she slowly reveals truths about past events, current troubles, and her protagonist’s undiagnosed autism. Readers will be drawn into Cassie’s life and won’t want to leave. This neurodiverse tale is ripe for discussion and makes a great read-alike for The Rosie Project (2013) by Graeme Simsion, Oona Out of Order (2020) by Margarita Montimore, and The Boys (2022) by Katie Hafner.”
– Booklist (STARRED)
“A pure delight from start to finish. Cassandra Dankworth is a character as unique as she is endearing: hilariously prickly and unapologetically clever yet delicate and tragically misunderstood. Cassandra in Reverse is an unexpected take on time travel, exploring the challenges of human connection. Humorous and insightful, this is an absolute gem of a novel.”
– Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author of Oona Out of Order
“A glorious testament to the transformative power of being our own true selves. It’s a brilliantly clever, twisty story that dazzles with its wit whilst touching our hearts. . . . A hugely entertaining book with an important message, Cassandra in Reverse is a triumph!”
– Sarah Haywood, New York Times bestselling author of The Cactus
Taste the very first page
Where does a story start?
It’s a lie, the first page of a book, because it masquerades as a beginning. A real beginning—the opening of something—when what you’re being offered is an arbitrary line in the sand. This story starts here. Pick a random event. Ignore whatever came be- fore it or catch up later. Pretend the world stops when the book closes, or that a resolution isn’t simply another random moment on a curated timeline.
But life isn’t like that, so books are dishonest.
Maybe that’s why humans like them.
And it’s saying that kind of shit that gets me thrown out of the Fentiman Road Book Club.
Here are some other things I’ve been asked not to return to:
* The Blenheim Road Readers Group
* A large flat-share I briefly attempted in Walthamstow
* My last relationship
* My current job…
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