Placeholders

For anyone who's ever experienced homesickness, loss or that type of love that you can't bear to be without, this is the novel for you. Tender, bittersweet and beautifully written * Belfast Telegraph *
This bittersweet debut explores liminal times, places and relationships... It's a subtle depiction of the blurring of lines between religion and community, between love and obligation, rich with the sort of present-moment nostalgia that there's almost certainly a German word for * GQ (Best Books of 2024) *
Placeholders is an incredibly assured debut novel - humane, heartfelt and beautifully observed. Roseman raises huge questions about identity, belonging and family, excelling in his depiction of the small, everyday exchanges which make or break a relationship. A quietly, powerful novel, from a writer I'm keen to keep my eye on -- Jan Carson, author of Quickly, While They Still Have Horses
There's no way around it: James Roseman writes beautifully. Confident, complex, moving, funny, Placeholders is a novel that makes a beeline to the heart. Time and again, I didn't want it to end -- Declan Toohey, author of Perpetual Comedown
Placeholders is a beautiful debut. A quietly moving reminder that people, not ideas, are what make or break a home or a heart -- Sheila Armstrong, author of Falling Animals