George Mowatt, management consultant-turned entrepreneur, is one of the wealthiest people in Britain. Karen Barnes, a single mum living in a terraced house in south Leeds, is not. When George decides that his third home should be close to the stadium of his beloved sports team, they become neighbours. Both George and Karen have been unlucky in love and the chemistry between them is instant. Yet their lives are a world apart, and their hearts keep missing each other’s beat.
The gulf in their experiences presents a culture clash, while the difference in income raises questions over whether George’s appeal lies in his character, or his solvency. Karen’s feelings are genuine: she detects kindness, generosity and a hint of melancholy about George. Moreover, hints that his business could be in trouble cause her to wonder if he was actually in debt. George is fascinated by how a smart, attractive Mum with a talented teenage daughter could be single and clearly struggling, and he loves her quick wit and sweet nature.
The rooms that they dare not, or cannot, enter are imaginary, physical and metaphorical. Karen is haunted by a recurring dream in which she discovers there are magical upstairs rooms in her house, that she is delighted to explore. For George, the rooms he does not enter are real: the family rooms in his large Surrey home that lie unused after his divorce. Both have to find the keys to open doors to new ways of understanding and expressing themselves, if they are to find love.
Just as they begin to chart a route to happiness, someone from Karen’s past reappears, and she is forced to reveal a secret she has kept from them both. The Rooms We Never Enter is a funny, heartfelt tale of missed opportunities, unlikely romance and a love that seems to be forever out of reach. It also raises sharp questions over the extent to which traditional gender roles have really changed in modern Britain.
More information
Philip Whiteley
PJ (Philip) Whiteley is starting to attract top level critical acclaim for his fiction. His first novel Close of Play (Urbane Publications, April 2015) was described by the Church Times as ‘well written, and above all well observed’, and was shortlisted for the People’s Book Prize Summer Showcase in 2015. The second novel, Marching on Together, (Urbane, February 2017) has received praise from Louis de Bernières, the legendary author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, who provided a cover quote: ‘I very much enjoyed Marching on Together and was happily carried along by the wonderfully realised characters.’
Philip has been a professional writer since summer 1988, when he began as a trainee reporter for the trade magazine Printing World. He later held roles at various professional magazines covering social work, and later business.
Since 1997 his journalism and non-fiction work has focused on the world of work, as he became intrigued by the gap between the evidence for enlightened workplaces, and the dismal reality of most offices and factories. His most recent polemic is New Normal Radical Shift, co-authored with Neela Bettridge and published by Gower (now Routledge) in 2013. The ground-breaking article Your Company Doesn’t Exist – the People Who Work in it Do, co-authored by Philip with Dr Jules Goddard, was a winner in the CME Management Article of the Year Award 2016, and was published in May 2017 in the London Business School Review.
How long will it take for my book to get dispatched?
For books in stock we usually dispatch orders within a few working days. You will receive a dispatch email when your order is on the way.
Where can I get my book delivered to?
We have temporarily stopped taking orders for published books going to EU destinations due to BREXIT restrictions, but we deliver to most other countries worldwide. Enter your delivery address during checkout and we'll display the shipping cost when we know where to send your book. If your country does not appear on the list we are not currently taking orders to that destination.
If I buy an ebook, when will I receive this?
Ebook files are sent via email after checkout, or you can download them from your Unbound account.
Where can I buy a copy if there's none available through the Unbound website?
The book should be available to order from most bookshops, or you can support your local bookshop online by ordering from bookshop.org.
Still have a question? Visit our Help Centre to find out more.
11th March 2020Not humbled, relieved
March already. It feels like I’ve had my head down for a few weeks, I look up, and a few months have gone by. Half a year has passed since A Love of Two Halves, my newest baby, emerged blinking into the autumn light. She’s looking quite healthy, I would say (don’t worry, I’ll abandon the baby metaphor before long), and she will be walking within a year, I hope.
Several readers who don’t know me…
27th September 2019Word of mouth
A week to go before publication, and word of mouth recommendations are beginning to spread for A Love of Two Halves. It has been selected by the digital book club The Pigeonhole for serialization. Some 240 subscribers will soon begin receiving the book in the form of 'staves' - sections that can be read on their mobile device for a limited period of time. They can make comments, and other readers…
27th September 2019Word of mouth
A week to go before publication, and word of mouth recommendations are beginning to spread for A Love of Two Halves. It has been selected by the digital book club The Pigeonhole for serialization. Some 240 subscribers will soon begin receiving the book in the form of 'staves' - sections that can be read on their mobile device for a limited period of time. They can make comments, and other readers…
27th September 2019Word of mouth
A week to go before publication, and word of mouth recommendations are beginning to spread for A Love of Two Halves. It has been selected by the digital book club The Pigeonhole for serialization. Some 240 subscribers will soon begin receiving the book in the form of 'staves' - sections that can be read on their mobile device for a limited period of time. They can make comments, and other readers…
28th August 2019Closing the deal
There are some important announcements from the publisher, Unbound, as we near publication date for A Love of Two Halves.
First of all, the supporters list for A Love of Two Halves closes next week, on 2nd September 2019. You cannot pledge for the book after this date. If you know someone who would like to pledge, please urge them to do so promptly! We’ve received a trickle of new pledges from…
28th August 2019Closing the deal
There are some important announcements as we near publication date.
First of all, the supporters list for A Love of Two Halves closes next week, on 2 September 2019. You cannot pledge for the book after this date. If you know someone who would like to pledge, please urge them to do so promptly! We’ve received a trickle of new pledges from people since passing the 100% mark earlier this year. As…
7th August 2019Deadline day
Douglas Adams once quipped that he ‘loved’ deadlines: ‘I love the wooshing noise they make as they go by.’
I would like to be so gifted that I would be afforded such artistic licence, but as a jobbing journalist with no family wealth behind me, I’ve never had the opportunity. I think I can honestly say that I’ve never missed a deadline in 31 years of professional writing. That’s quite a few thousand…
25th June 2019Uncovering the cover, and a quote
Last month we finished the contents; this month it’s the packaging. We’ve had a tremendously positive reaction to the cover. Indeed, it is vivid, and tells the story – or at any rate, the premise – of the book, with the twin front doors, one posh, one slightly battered, representing the Two Halves of Britain, and of the relationship. For a glimpse of the cover, click on this link to the PJ Whiteley…
14th May 2019A Love of Two Halves
First, a big announcement: the book has a new title. It’s quite an adjustment, having used the original while managing the crowdfunding project for over a year; a title related to themes in the book. But now my baby has a new name: A Love of Two Halves.
While I was proud of the sharpness and originality of The Rooms We Never Enter, I do have to admit that it doesn’t sound like a romantic comedy…
4th March 2019Thank you, thank you, mwah!
This is going to sound like an Oscars award acceptance speech, but I don’t care.
I just want to thank you, all of you, for supporting The Rooms We Never Enter, and for making sure it is published. On 28th February, after 14 months, we reached target. The book should appear this autumn; I can now start to plan fun things like selecting the book cover and planning the launch events (there will be…
23rd January 2019A dash of magical realism
I’ve been back to school: learning screenplay. There isn’t a long-term plan to become a scriptwriter, more a case of stretching myself and learning about a slightly different world. My tutor, Julia Berg is inspirational. As well as giving advice on storylines, dialogue and the pitch, she offers to put the work of us, her delegates, to producers in the industry. She sees potential in The Rooms We Never…
4th January 201990% there ...
Following the latest flurry of pledges just before and after Christmas, some of them generous, I've topped the 90% mark for crowdfunding The Rooms We Never Enter. One final push, and we'll be there. I can start thinking in terms of the launch activity.
There's a lot of discussion among authors about the best way of letting people know about your work. Much expertise has been developed in the newer…
2nd November 2018Last lap
Mid-autumn, and we’ve topped the 60% mark, with 58 people pledging to help see The Rooms We Never Enter in print. I thought it would be timely to pen an update. First of all, it was inspiring to meet other Unbound authors at the event at Nottingham Waterstones last month (and to receive a couple of extra generous pledges in the days afterwards). The calibre of authors exceeds even my high expectations…
1st August 2018Glass half full on Yorkshire Day
In June we passed the 50% mark; this week, on Yorkshire Day, we reached 50 supporters. It’s been incredible to receive so much backing for my forthcoming novel, and I’m confident we’ll reach target before the end of the year.
This week I had an initial meeting with a Leeds-based literary events organisation about a Pledge Party, to support The Rooms We Never Enter. I’d be interested in inviting…
2nd July 2018More than half way there!
In June we passed the 50% mark for The Rooms We Never Enter. I thought the crowdfunding would take a year, and we're six months in, so pretty much on target! I've been really thrilled by the support that I've received; so many generous, wonderful people supporting literature in such a direct way. I really do hope that we reach target, as I'm very proud of the book. I think it's funny and heartfelt…
Chris Simmonds asked:
Not a question, just a comment/observation about the change of title.
I liked the original title - the rooms we never enter - and perhaps that was what initially drew me to take a closer look at the book. It was a title that intrigued me but didn't give too much away so I had to investigate further and I liked what I read. The new title - sorry, wouldn't have looked twice at it. But then I just read lots of books, I am not an editor.
Philip Whiteley replied:
Hi Chris. I understand your point of view. I was very keen on the title The Rooms We Never Enter, and the theme of rooms - imaginary, metaphorical and real, is one that emerges strongly in the text. This theme is not in any way diluted, and I am very proud of it; I think it still evokes an atmosphere. If anything, this theme, and the touch of magical realism that comes with it, is a touch stronger after the developmental edit. The publisher and I have been thinking of how the title works on the cover, how it will appear in a bookshop, and how it will appeal to readers. It is, as the summary does make clear, a romance, whereas the original title does sound a little more like a ghost story or thriller. Shall I pass on your comment to the editor? Do contact me directly if you wish phil@whiteleywords.com - and thank you for your support.
Not a question, just a comment/observation about the change of title. I liked the original title - the rooms we never enter - and perhaps that was what initially drew me to take a closer look at the book. It was a title that intrigued me but didn't give too much away so I had to investigate further and I liked what I read. The new title - sorry, wouldn't have looked twice at it. But then I just read lots of books, I am not an editor.
Hi Chris. I understand your point of view. I was very keen on the title The Rooms We Never Enter, and the theme of rooms - imaginary, metaphorical and real, is one that emerges strongly in the text. This theme is not in any way diluted, and I am very proud of it; I think it still evokes an atmosphere. If anything, this theme, and the touch of magical realism that comes with it, is a touch stronger after the developmental edit. The publisher and I have been thinking of how the title works on the cover, how it will appear in a bookshop, and how it will appeal to readers. It is, as the summary does make clear, a romance, whereas the original title does sound a little more like a ghost story or thriller. Shall I pass on your comment to the editor? Do contact me directly if you wish phil@whiteleywords.com - and thank you for your support.