The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W

‘An enchanting debut’ USA Today bestseller Mandy Robotham

‘A beautiful, uplifting story of love and kindness … A brilliant debut novel’ Malcolm Brabant, co-author, The Daughter of Auschwitz

I am the oldest person ever to have lived in this world. I am the one who lived through their monster camps and brought the ones left of my family to London to make more family. I am the one to laugh at those angry, evil people and tell them, you see, I made it through. We made it through. This is enough. It is my world's record.

Family matriarch and Holocaust survivor Nora Wojnaswki is about to become the oldest person in the world, ever, and her family are determined to celebrate in style.

But Nora isn’t your average centenarian and she has other ideas. When she disappears with her carer Arifa on a trip down memory lane in the East End of London, a wartime secret, buried deep for over 70 years, will finally be revealed.

‘A touching, funny and beguiling story about the ties of family and friendship, and what we owe to those we love’ Caroline Wyatt

‘A moving, poignant and laugh out loud story about surviving and thriving. It makes you want to count your blessings and polish them while you are at it…’ Lizzie Enfield

About the author

Cate Green grew up in Buckinghamshire and lived in Manchester and London before moving to France over twenty years ago. She now lives and writes just outside Lyon, France’s second city and gastronomic capital.

Her debut novel The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W was inspired by her late mother-in-law, a resilient and feisty Holocaust survivor who lived almost as long as Nora herself. It won the 2019 Exeter Novel Prize.

​Cate is a broadcast and print journalist and copywriter with over twenty years’ experience in international radio, television and corporate communications. When not writing or running around after her three daughters, she is often sampling food and wine with her husband, swimming lengths to make up for it, or getting lost in Venice.