Cathy Rentzenbrink was born in Cornwall, grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in London. Her memoir The Last Act of Love was published by Picador in 2015 and told the story of the life and death of her brother. It was a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback, and was shortlisted for The Wellcome Trust Prize and the Portico Prize. Her next book A Manual for Heartache is a hopeful book about sadness which suggests that learning to live with loss and suffering is an essential part of being human. It will be published in June 2017.
Cathy is Contributing Editor at The Bookseller, and regularly chairs literary events, judges prizes, reviews books and speaks and writes about literacy, literature and everything in between. Cathy has previously worked at Waterstones, Quick Reads and The Reading Agency and is a keen supporter of all bookshops and libraries. She is happiest when talking to strangers about books and thinks everyone’s life could only be improved by more reading and writing. She won the Snaith and District Ladies Darts Championship when she was 17.