Main Characters

Gorgeous, clever, utterly addictive. A fresh take on the British romcom – Pandora Sykes
An epic love story that’s innovative and clever but with all the humour, character detail and heart-wrenching emotional moments we have come to expect from Bobby Palmer’s writing. Wonderful – Kate Sawyer
If you love clever literary fiction, you will love this novel. If you love immersive commercial fiction, you will love this novel. If you love rom coms and a portrayal of London that feels like a Richard Curtis movie, you will love this novel – Georgina Moore
The perfect book for anyone who’s ever sat opposite a mysterious stranger on a train and wondered what’s really going on behind those eyes. A charming, romantic meditation on the chaos of falling in (and out of) love – Justin Myers
Moving, funny, wise and beautifully written. This novel held me from beginning to end. The press release says, “you’ve never read a love story like this one” …and you truly haven’t. It is unique and so, so clever. I love the idea of people’s lives crossing over, the impressions we get from what we see and hear. I was so invested in the characters. I laughed out loud so many times. A couple of chapters made me sob - I was so distraught, but it’s all part of the process. If you love a smart, poignant, funny, gripping book, you will love this. I cannot recommend it enough – Joanna Cannon
Main Characters is a true feat of imagination - a love story built from absence, told entirely through the voices of those orbiting its central couple. Every perspective is gripping, immediate, and utterly alive, forging a surprising and intense intimacy with Seb and Clara, even as we only meet them refracted through others’ eyes. Bobby Palmer has the rare talent of making us fall in love, and this might be his greatest achievement yet – Seth Insua
Cinematic and swoon-worthy (but not without its gut punches), this felt like a Nora Ephron movie colliding with a flipbook of characters on the page. It’s such a fresh and original take on the telling of a love story - but somehow timeless, too, in the way of classic movies – Claire Daverley

Bobby Palmer is an author and journalist. His debut novel, Isaac and the Egg, was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in 2022, and his second novel, Small Hours, was published in 2024. Bobby co-hosted the podcast Book Chat with Pandora Sykes, and his writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, and Cosmopolitan, among others. He lives with his family in Sussex.

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