Books
Explore author Sophie Nicholls’ bestsellers.
My books have been FEATURED IN
The Dress
Meet Ella and her mother Fabia Moreno who arrive in York, one cold January day, to set up their vintage dress shop.
The flamboyant Fabia wants to sell beautiful dresses to nice people and move on from her difficult past. Ella just wants to fit in. But not everyone is on their side.
Will Fabia overcome the prejudices she encounters? What’s the dark secret she’s hiding? And do the silk linings and concealed seams of her dresses contain real spells or is this all just ‘everyday magic’?
Among the leopard-print shoes, tea-gowns and costume jewellery in Fabia’s shop are many different stories – and the story of one particular dress.
‘This book is a wonderful read and I would definitely recommend it…I can’t wait for the sequels’ – Loubee Lou Blogs
‘A delightful, uplifting novel that, while unashamedly romantic and feel-good, nevertheless ponders some deeper questions.’ Yorkshire Post
Miss Mary’s Book of Dreams
Books, dreams and vintage fashion, perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond, Milly Johnson and Anna Bell. From the bestselling author of The Dress.
Ella runs Happily Ever After, a bookshop nestled in the cobbled streets of York.
She’s a wife, a mother and a successful novelist. But something is missing…
One day a strange girl comes into Ella’s shop. Bryony is shy and unsure, and Ella feels a strange connection to her.
With the help of one very special book – and a little touch of magic – can these women help each other find the fairy tale endings they’ve been searching for?
‘With her marriage flagging and finding parenting a struggle, Ella turns to her mother – who flies to her rescue, bringing the special supernatural gifts that run in the family . . . a charming and lyrical story’ Sunday Mirror
Refugee
These poems explore something that is important to most of us – the idea of who we are, and of who we still are when everything that is dear or familiar to us is stripped away: the idea of home.
For several years, Nicholls worked as a volunteer writing mentor for members of the Write to Life group at Freedom from Torture. She tried to help people to find meaning from the seemingly meaningless acts of brutality and persecution they had experienced and to remake the stories of their lives. This experience opened the eyes and the heart and Nicholls here finds a way of paying homage to the courage of the people she met and the incredible stories people shared with her.
The Refugee poems attempt to draw attention to the stories that we simply cannot ignore, stories that are crucial to us as a society. There are poems here too in which Nicholls explores her own connections with home, with Yorkshire, where she is from, with language and place. Her poems mark a way of finding home and making meaning.
**ALL PROCEEDS FROM SALES OF THIS BOOK GO TO FREEDOM FROM TORTURE – www.freedomfromtorture.org**
‘The concentration in Sophie Nicholls’s poems is a form of cherishing. The poems themselves may be small, but they have the sort of breadth that matters, whether celebrating fortitude or attending to human frailty.’ – CHRISTOPHER REID
Want to read more of my writing?
Explore my blog
Won’t you celebrate with me? Writing in community
This week has been a whirlwind of events. Graduation ceremonies at Teesside University where I had the privilege of watching thousands of graduates cross the stage, supported by their loved ones. An end-of term summer concert, a Year 9 graduation ceremony and an art…
When a stationery obsession solves a writing process problem
I had a personal breakthrough during our WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! live session on Monday. My intention for the session was to make a start on outlining a book-length project. When I say, make a start what I really mean is make another start because this is a project that…
Writing for myself
How writing for ourselves can help us as writers and as people. When I was a very small girl, I would spend hours making tiny books out of folded pieces of paper and filling them with my thoughts. I didn’t know it then but this was my way of making sense of the world…
Journal prompts for anxiety
Journaling and creative writing can be powerful tools to help us to let go of stress and soothe anxiety. Many people find that the act of writing their worries down on paper can help them to feel more manageable. I’ve been working with writing in…
How to start journaling for mental health
You may have heard about the benefits of creative writing and journaling for mental health. Perhaps you’ve even bought yourself a lovely new notebook and tried to make a start. The problem is that it can sometimes feel difficult to know how to begin, particularly if…
Your private creative practice is your resistance
No one can take it away from you. Nurture it whenever you can.
Are your earliest experiences of writing helping you or holding you back?
If you’re feeling stuck, here’s a gentle creative process that might help.
When less is more in writing and in life
A gentle process to help you to let go of the parts of your writing that you no longer need.
Meet your inner writing teacher
You’ve heard of your inner critic but did you know that you also have an inner teacher?
Reading like a writer
How this approach to reading can help you to develop your writing craft.